Memories
by everfabulossa
Summary: How does one deal with loss of loved ones and memory while starting a new life? My first HM CliffxClaire fanfic. Mostly inspired by MFoMT but with bits of HM BTN for Girls..:) {cover image by Rica Diaz [wonderfulworldofmoi(tumblr)]}
1. Chapter 1: The Missing Page

**Chapter 1: The Missing Page**

Claire is staring at the horizon with her head resting on her arms holding on the steel railing of the ship. The wind blew through her long blonde hair.

It's the first time she has ever went alone far from the city where she was born and she would be away from there for a length of time she does not know herself.

As the setting sun paints the sky orange, she sighed and said to herself, "It would have been better if they are here, or if there is at least someone who could see this view with me."

The previous year was probably the most difficult year of her life after losing her grandfather and her parents.

She lost her grandfather to an illness brought by old age. He left them the management of a farm where she is headed right now.

Her parents would have been the ones to take care of the farm but they passed early due a car crash.

Now, her brother Jack is the only family she has left but she cannot drag him along just yet because he still has his school to finish. They decided that she would go to the farm first and that Jack would eventually follow her after he graduates.

"This is hard. Why do these kinds of things had to happen to us?" Claire recalls herself talking to Jack as she packed her things for her trip.

"Yes it is. But we have to move on. If they can still talk to us, I bet they would tell us the same," her brother said.

"Well, you're right. Anyways, what do you want to do with this place after you graduate?" she asked her brother, referring to their house in the city.

"Let's keep it. I think we'd still miss being here so even if we're in the province, we would go here once in a while so it's better that we still have this place where we could stay instead of renting or checking in at hotels don't you think?"

"I agree. I'll be going now. Don't bother accompanying me to the harbor. You still have school stuff to do. You should do well in them so you wouldn't have problems with your grades so you could graduate on time and follow me immediately," smiling, she told her brother.

"I'll definitely go there! I am excited to see the little girl I used to play with when grandpa brought me there! Well, she's not little anymore. She's also grown like us. I'm sure she's very beautiful," Jack said staring at the ceiling, smitten.

"Oh so you haven't forgotten about her! It's been years since we went there and you haven't returned since that last time. You were both very little back then," Claire said.

"Yeah. We've been so busy here in the city but she has remained in my memory ever since. Maybe this is what they call young love? Hehe... I couldn't even think of being in a relationship with any girl aside from her," her brother shared.

"Love at seven (years old)? You're kidding me Jack."

"Hey, maybe I still didn't understand the idea of love way back but as the years passed, I got to know many girls but I realized that I cannot feel special feelings with them because I always remember that girl at grandpa's town. Oh! As for you,"

"What 'as for me?'" Claire asked, with one eyebrow raised.

"I'll be rooting for you to find love there too!"

"Huh? I haven't really thought about that so I don't know what to say."

"I want you to feel a new kind of happiness and whoever that is, I hope he'll bring that happiness to you."

Claire, with one brow still raised, bent her head to the side.

Jack continued, "I know these things are not really sinking in to you right now because you haven't really been in love since you have been focused on your studies. But when you feel it, you'll understand me."

"Whatever you say little brother," Claire patted her Jack's head and messed his hair.

"Hey…"

Claire giggled. "Okay, I really have to go now or I will miss the ship. See you in a year!" She hugged her little brother who returned her embrace.

Claire snapped back to the present. One thing she noted, of course she understood her brother talking about love, but only based on stories she hear from her friends or programs she watched on television. She hasn't had one though, and yes, because she was really focused on her studies back then. But she is also excited for the time when someone would make her feel especially happy, like others say.

She has been reminiscing family events, thinking matters of the heart for only a few minutes. A quarter of the sun can still be seen on the horizon.

She sat on a wooden bench she spotted behind her. She was about to put her hands on the bench on both sides when her right hand felt something that is not wood. She looked down beside her and saw her hand was on top of a piece of paper that was like off-white in color. She picked them and read what was handwritten.

 _You are the most beautiful person in my life_

 _I wouldn't think of others aside from you_

 _You can make my heart jump when you smile_

 _Being with you is a wish come true_

 _Your hair, your eyes, your nose, your lips, your body_

 _Everything about you is just perfect_

 _Plus you have a very good heart for everybody_

 _It's you I want to care for and protect_

 _You are the most beautiful person in my life_

 _You are beautiful inside and out_

 _Dedicating you my life_

 _Is something I will never doubt_

 _Funny thing is I haven't actually seen you_

 _But I am already like this deeply into you_

 _But I swear to the heavens I will find you_

 _And when it happens, I'll do my best for you_

 _I will find you_

 _Please hold on_

 _I love you_

 _For now, carry on_

With one hand holding the paper, Claire lifted her other hand to her chest. She felt her heart beat a little bit faster. It was the first time she felt something like that, and over a poem, she thought.

Then she immediately had the idea that she wants to meet whoever wrote the poem and know him a little more. Wait, "him?" Yes, she was sure a boy wrote it. She nodded with a smile upon noting that the writer is expressing love for someone he hasn't met. She then quietly giggled upon herself for feeling strange over words written by someone she still doesn't know.

It was already getting dark so she rose from seat and headed back to her cabin. As she walked, she held the sheet of paper onto her chest.

She stopped at her cabin's door and dug to the keys in her pocket to open it. She went in and locked the door again. She sat on her bed and placed the piece of paper on the small table beside it.

Then, she grabbed her bag to search for the packed meal her brother prepared for her. That pasta dinner just made her miss Jack already. They loved to cook. Even after their parents left, they liked to cook meals instead of dining out or having their food delivered.

After eating, Claire washed herself, changed to sleeping clothes, and lied down her bed, ready to sleep.

Facing her table, she stared at the piece of paper. She cannot explain what she was feeling as she looked at it. The written words seemed to be rising from the paper and flying to her face. She then turned to her left and looked at the starry night sky through her cabin window.

 _Carry on._

She soon fell into deep slumber.

oOo

The next day, she was awakened by the sound of a bird knocking its tiny beak onto the glass of her window.

She got up and stretched her arms. Then she leaned on her window.

"Hello there, little one!" she greeted. Then the bird flew away leaving the sight of the crystal blue waters meeting a blue sky with fluffy clouds in front of her eyes. She immediately felt excited and went out of the bed, took a bath and put on her orange sleeves with plaid print and wore jumpers over it.

She was ready to have her breakfast at the Starboard ship's diner but before she left, she scanned her cabin with her eyes to see if everything was in place. As her eyes traveled, they fell on the off-white colored piece of paper resting on the table beside her bed. She picked it and folded it to fit in the pocket in front of her jumper.

For breakfast, Claire had bread and butter, coffee and apple. After she was done eating, she wiped her mouth with the table napkin and rose. As she walked towards the diner's door, she noticed a boy with mid-length hair, who just closed a booklet with pages that had a color familiar to what she found earlier.

The boy walked to exit the diner while she was frozen upon realizing that the papers in the boy's booklet are the same as the paper inside her jumper's pocket. She blinked her eyes as if getting back to reality and chased the boy.

"Uhm, excuse me," she softly said as she approached the boy. The boy turned. Her blue eyes met his brown ones.

"Uh..hi," the boy said. "How can I help you?"

"Well, I was wondering if you've been looking for this?" Claire put out the folded off-white paper from her pocket and handed it to him.

"Oh yeah it's mine. How did you know?" The boy motioned for them to take a seat at the wooden bench where she sat yesterday.

"I just noticed you when you fixed your things at the diner and thought the papers in your stuff looked similar to this. But, I hope you don't mind…I read it and… folded it." She shyly looked away from the boy.

"Oh.. not at all. It's me who should hope that you don't mind what I wrote. It's a little bit cheesy and ridiculous." He grinned then also shyly looked away from her.

There was a little moment of silence until they both laughed.

"Alright, anyway, thank you so much for giving this back to me."

She looked away from the boy again. "And your poem isn't ridiculous too." She then turned her head up and traveled her eyes through the sky where a flock of birds passed. "You are inspired by love and you expressed them through writing, and you're good in that."

The boy looked at her while she is still enjoying the sight of the flying creatures. He felt there are also flying stuff inside him, butterflies in his stomach.

"Uh, um, thanks..." the boy feels his face is turning red. Thankfully, Claire didn't notice him because her eyes were entertained by the view above.

"So you write for a living?" Claire asked, in effort to manage her shyness.

"No. It's just my sort of pastime. I'm actually on this trip to find something to do for a living, how about you?"

"Oh, well, I am headed to a town to manage my family's business. The town's called Mineral Town."

"Oh, so we're both on the way for sources of income." They both chuckled.

"Yes, I need to take care of our family's business because I have to help my brother finish school. We lost our grandfather, then our mom and dad last year."

"I am sorry to hear that." The boy didn't speak for a few seconds but then faced her, "You are amazing. You are very brave and kind. I know your folks are very proud of you right now."

"Thank you," she said with a smile.

"Maintenance! Dear passengers, please proceed back to your cabins. Our staff will be making rounds to do the morning cleaning of your places. Thank you." That was the ship radio.

"I guess we should head back now. I'll see you again sometime!" Claire said as she stood up.

"Yeah. Thanks again for this," the boy said, holding the folded paper.

"Oh! And just believe in your heart, you will find her," she whispered to his ear. Then, she ran back to her cabin.

The boy felt a certain kind of electricity travel his spine as he felt her breath in his ear. He watched her as she walked away and softly spoke, "I think I already did."


	2. Chapter 2: The Sailing Ship

**Chapter 2: Sailing "Ship"**

"Oh, Ma'am! You shouldn't have bothered!" The lady who dropped by for the maintenance of Claire's cabin pleaded Claire not to carry the bed and pillow covers she used. But Claire was persistent.

"Nahh.. It's nothing. I also do this stuff at home." Claire said with a smile. She stacked her used stuff on top of the rolling carrier. "There. Does it look like how you do it?"

"Yes it does Ma'am. Thank you," the lady said.

"THANK YOUUU. Overseas work is quite challenging because you are away from your loved ones. It's amazing how you do well in your work and manage homesickness," Claire said.

"You are right Ma'am. This kind of job is really challenging. But when I remind myself of the people I help, I feel good at what I do. I am able to help my family and at the same time, people like you… Oh I am sorry, Ma'am. I have to proceed to the other cabins. Thank you again."

Claire held the lady's shoulder. "It's alright. Thank you very much too. See you around."

The lady left. Claire locked herself in her cabin, ready for the lunch she bought from the diner.

oOo

In the afternoon, the boy that Claire met was walking along the ship corridor. He passed by the staff desk and overheard the employees talking.

"The blonde girl in 307 is very kind and sweet, she helped me carry the bed covers," one of the staffs, who happens to be the lady who attended to Claire's cabin, shared to her fellow.

"Blonde girl? I also heard of the diner staffs who talked about a blonde girl! Blonde haired with blue eyes! They say she is very nice inside and out. With what you just shared, I might as well agree with them."

The boy could only blush.

He was very sure that the blonde girl the staffs were talking about was the blonde girl he talked to earlier.

'So she's in 307,' he thought. He walked to the ship's view deck. 'I could go to her and ask her to walk around…No…no..' He shook his head rapidly. 'I am ridiculous as usual. She will wonder how I got to know about her room number. And walk around? Seriously, that's the best I could offer? I really am ridiculous.'

Suddenly, he felt a familiar electrification when a soft hand touched his shoulder. He stiffened.

A familiar soft and sweet voice curiously asked her, "Are you alright?"

He turned his head and it was none other than the only blonde girl who has been in his thoughts since they met.

"Oh hey. I..I'm fine."

"I am sorry to surprise you. I just… saw you along the way. I thought you were uneasy or something. And besides, you are the only one I know here so… I thought of joining you," Claire said apologetically. She looked down.

"Oh. I just thought of something. But please don't worry. I am really fine." Warmth was creeping up his cheeks again and he looked away. "And… I don't mind you joining me. You are the only one I know here as well."

He noticed that the girl beside him was quiet. He lowered himself so her sight would fall on him. "Come on, I'll show you around," he said with smiling eyes.

Claire lifted her eyes that met the boy's. She smiled and nodded at him. They walked together side by side.

oOo

The boy led Claire to the ship's entertainment hall. They were just in time for the musical.

Claire enjoyed watching. She was very amused with the performers' singing and dancing. She was also carried away by the show, genuinely laughing at comic moments and getting teary-eyed at sad parts.

She was unaware, however, that the boy sitting beside her could not focus on the show as he could only look at her occasionally. He loved how she smiled and laughed. But when she was about to cry, he almost wanted to hold her hand but held back thinking he did not want her to feel uncomfortable with him.

The show ended happily. Claire cheerfully applauded.

"You didn't seem to like it," the boy teased.

"Yeah, I got bored," Claire responded.

Then they both laughed. Of course, they were both kidding.

"There's still one more place you have to see. Let's go," the boy said.

The boy invited Claire to the highest deck of the ship where passengers are allowed to hang out.

At the final step of the staircase leading there, the boy made way for her to walk ahead of him.

Claire was struck in awe as she walked around. "Wow, it's so wonderful up here! I can see more than the view downstairs!" She was spinning and stopping at random sides.

As the sea breeze lifted her hair and even swept her bangs upwards, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

While Claire kept on indulging herself in the beauty of her surroundings, the boy could only appreciate her beauty, but unknown to her.

Then they both turned around to the sound of someone with a deep voice clearing his throat.

"I'm happy to see you enjoying the trip." It was the Captain of Starboard. He left the navigation task to his deputy for a while.

"Oh Captain!" They both bowed.

The Captain rose his hands gesturing they didn't need to bow.

"Why don't you two be our guest?" And the Captain motioned his hand to the control room, the highest area of the ship.

Claire and the boy looked at each other then looked back at the Captain.

"Follow me." The Captain led the way.

As soon as both her feet were in the room, Claire delightfully walked around.

"This is amazing!" she said. "Now here's a 360-view of the surroundings! Window panels have been put in all four sides of the control room so the sailors would know what's occurring from all directions.

Then there goes chatty Claire who kept the Captain busy answering her questions about sea navigation. The Captain was very hospitable to answer her to the best of his knowledge.

The boy, for his part, only mumbled a little. He'd rather look at and listen to Claire who was having a great time talking about nautical navigation stuff with the Captain.

"You might want to see some of the pictures we have taken in our journeys," the Captain told Claire. He had the female admiral show the photos to Claire.

Meanwhile, he called the boy to his side. Captain was looking at the view of the sea with a far mountainous island in the background, but the boy's eyes were fixed on the blonde girl looking at photos in the other side of the room.

"What a beautiful view!" the Captain softly said, that only the boy could hear him.

"Yes, really beautiful… huh?" The boy snapped to his senses and faced the Captain. "Uh yes, sir." Then he looked at the sea as well.

The Captain chuckled. He leaned a little closer to the boy. "You know, not everyone can encounter such beauty so you better take care of it."

The boy smiled. "Aye, aye sir!" And he saluted the Captain.

Claire later approached them. "I have seen the pictures! Wow you have been in a lot of places! And you surely are a great Captain 'cause you wouldn't have gone this far if you weren't expert in this field."

"Hohoho.. Thank you, young lady. You are really sweet and jolly too."

"Oh, thank you sir." Claire blushed.

Then the control room's clock bell sounded.

"It's almost sunset. You can view it at the deck downstairs. You could sit on the bench so it would be more convenient for you," the Captain suggested.

"Alright Sir! Then we'll be going now. Thank you so much for having us around!" Claire said.

"Thank you very much Captain," said the boy.

They both bowed.

The Captain patted the boy's back. The young lad knew what the old man meant. The former bowed to the latter secretly then followed his female companion downstairs.

Claire and the boy proceeded to the bench at the view deck and sat there as they watched the sun disappear from the horizon.

Then it was dark, a little darker actually, since there are quite much of thick clouds.

"I think it's going to rain. We must head back before we both get soaked," the boy told Claire.

Claire looked up. "Hmm... perhaps you're right. Okay. Come on." She quickly rose from her seat and ran to the stairs. "Hurry. Or else you'll get wet!" she said goofily.

The boy followed him. "Hey wait up!" Claire already disappeared as she slowly went down the stairs. He was just about to stand up.

When the boy got down the stairs. He spotted Claire at the cabin deck door, waving at him and giggling. It started to drizzle.

They both looked up then Claire called him. "Come on! I wouldn't want you to get sick because of hanging out in the rain with me."

The boy quickly ran to where she was. "Alright, I am here now. The drizzle hardly got me wet."

"Let's go back to our cabins. We have to rest."

"You're right. But I'll walk you to your cabin."

So they did walk together until they reached Claire's cabin.

"Here we are! It's 307. In case you would like to visit or something."

'I know,' the boy said, only in his mind.

"Wait here!"

"Huh?" he wondered.

After a few moments, Claire got out and handed him a couple of stuff.

"What's this?" he asked her.

"That small bag contains tea leaves. It's perfect for a weather like this. And this one's just something to remind you of me..haha.." The other item was a paper clip with a figure of a bird. "..Next time, your papers would be intact."

"I hope you sleep well," Claire said.

"You too. Sleep well. Goodnight."

"Goodnight! And thank you for today. I really had a wonderful time with you." She waved at him for the last time before she closed her cabin's door.

The boy walked back to his cabin feeling his warmth in his face. He faced the mirror and to his horror, he looked like a severely ill person because of his redness.

He made tea and thought to himself that the girl was right, it was perfect for the weather.

He looked at the paper clip given by the girl and smiled. Then he put it in his pocket, pinning it to the inner pocket.

'Time to rest,' he thought.

Passenger cabins' lights have all dimmed.

oOo

Lying on bed in his cabin, the boy was just staring at the ceiling.

"I just cannot sleep yet." The thought of the blonde girl with a kind heart kept him awake.

He replayed in his mind everything they did together. He recalled how she laughed and smiled and told him stories. He was so overwhelmed of having spent the day with her until something struck his mind.

"I am definitely ridiculous. How silly that I did not ever asked her what's her name!" He scratched his head. "Tomorrow, I'll do just that."

He still couldn't sleep.

oOo

In her cabin, Claire was sound asleep. She got tired of the things she did for the day. But she was sleeping with a smile on her face.

"Poetic boy," she murmured in her sleep.


	3. Chapter 3: Storm

**Chapter 3: Storm**

From his bed, the boy looked at the window but couldn't see clearly what's outside. He got up and crawled close to it and realized that heavy rain was pouring.

For a couple of times, he heard his window struggle from its lock. The wind must be hitting it hardly.

At first, he did not mind the weather but sooner, he felt it as the ship tilted a little.

Then, he heard someone knocking at his door. He got up and opened it.

"Mister, sorry to disturb you but we have an emergency situation." A ship crew informed him that a storm has hit their area so the passengers had to stay up.

After hearing that, the boy could only worry about the girl in 307.

Without hesitation, he quickly rushed to her.

When he got to her door, Claire was already standing there. Her right hand was holding the doorknob, while her left hand was covering her mouth.

"Are you alright? Have you been hurt or anything?" He held both sides of her head, fingers touching her hair and palms touching her face. "The ship tilted earlier."

Claire's eyes met his. She held the hands holding her face. "I'm fine. I was awakened by the sound of my bag that fell on the floor. A ship crew got here and informed me of what's happening."

"It seems the weather got worse. We have to stay awake so we could make necessary actions if anything not good happens."

Claire nodded.

The hallway started going bright as passengers switched their lights from their cabins.

Huge waves kept tossing the ship left to right to left to right.

"Grab on to the bars."

And Claire did just that.

oOo

"This is not good. The weather report said the storm will hit the north of the country but it seems like it changed path," the ship admiral lamented.

"Don't worry everyone. We will handle this." The Captain kept his crew's hopes up.

Then, one of the sailors used a telescope to see something approaching from the sea.

"Captain! There is a giant rock ahead!"

"Tsk tsk! "How much time until impact?"

"We could hit it in about five minutes sir! But the waves are making it worse."

"Then we'll have to leave this ship," he decided.

He opened his microphone so that units from all areas of the ship could hear him. "We're going to abandon the ship. Tell everyone, passengers and employees alike to wear life vests and tie themselves to floating rings. Have everybody in the rescue boats!" As much as he was worried, he was thinking clearly.

He continued. "Less than a kilometer from here there is a bunch of huge chunks of land where we can take refuge. At the sound of the siren, go behind those big rocks! We will survive this! Everyone here in the control room, 45 degrees then FULL SPEED AHEAD!"

"Tooot toot!" As the ship moved in full speed, the ship's crew put out all floating aides and distributed them to the passengers and their fellow crew.

There was quite some commotion because many were running and bumping onto one another.

Claire and the boy were standing side by side, holding onto the railings in the view deck as they await the signal.

After a while, the siren sounded. The rescue boats with women, children, the aged, and the ill, and disabled were lowered first. The other able passengers and crews were to follow. It wasn't easy because of the heavy rain and strong winds.

The boy pleaded with his blonde friend to join in the rescue boat.

Claire, however, just kept on shaking her head as uttered, "No I won't leave you behind! I'll go with you!"

The boy could not insist himself. His blonde friend sounded firm in her words.

Nevertheless, the boy did what he knew was right. He pointed to something behind the girl only to trick her to turn around, then, he grabbed her on both arms and pushed her to a group about to fill up one rescue boat.

Claire could not break free from the hold of the people around her. Later on, she lost sight of the boy because of all the commotion.

But, she insisted on being with the boy. The rescue boat was on cue to be lowered but she jumped out of it. Other people fought over the spot she vacated.

Claire landed face down on the deck's floor. She struggled on standing up as people kept bumping on her.

She looked for the boy from the crowd. When she had spotted him assisting others, she weakly went to him.

When she reached him, she held his arm.

The boy was shocked on feeling someone hold him, and he was very sure it was the hand of the person he didn't want to be holding him at that kind of situation because he already put her to safety.

He turned around. "What are you.."

"Don't you ever do that to me again! Don't you ever!" Claire was crying as she embraced him.

The boy closed his eyes and held her head and her back. Then he held her shoulders and leaned his forehead against hers.

"Are you out of your mind? You're supposed to be safe now."

Claire was just crying as she kept her arms encircled on him.

The boy planted a kiss on her forehead.

oOo

Starboard would have made a successful complete turn, if not for the waves hitting it. When the giant wave came, its tail was smashed through the huge rock.

Claire and the boy were on one side of the deck, poised to jump when…

"Captain! We can make it! You said so yourself!" The admiral was assisting the Captain towards the deck's edge.

Claire and the boy looked at each other and both nodded. Then, they grabbed on to the ship's top two officials.

"Young lady! Young lad! What are you doing here?" the Captain asked them.

"You should have ridden the rescue boats!" said the admiral.

"Come with me Captain!" The boy reached the Captain and looked at Claire.

Claire understood the boy and nodded. She reached the admiral.

"On my count, we'll have to jump! One..two..three!"

The four jumped then got drifted away from one another when they fell into the water.

Despite the angry water, ship crews rushed to get the Captain and the admiral.

Not far from the area, the boy looked for Claire and spotted her floating. He quickly swam to her and found that she was unconscious.

Thankfully, there was a land mass near them so he dragged her there.

oOo

The weather and the water soon calmed. The sun peeked out.

oOo

When Claire woke up, she found herself on bed covered with blanket.

* * *

 _This is my first note here in my story, I just wanted to explain about this chapter if it's a bit off or unrealistic..I don't know.. It was really hard for me to write it.. I really tried to make a not so tragic tragedy because I thought that ships nowadays are prepared for emergency situations where everyone on board would be accommodated by rescue materials, as it was one lesson taught by the Titanic tragedy._

 _Speaking of Titanic, well, there's that part where Claire decided not to go in the rescue boat – this was a nod to the movie.. That's all._

 _Thanks for viewing my story. Til next chapter. :)_


	4. Chapter 4: Welcome

**Chapter 4: Welcome**

 _ **(long chapter)**_

"Good morning young lady. How are you feeling?"

Claire turned her head and saw a big old brunette man in red suit.

"Huh? Where am I? Who are you?" Claire asked.

"You are in Mineral Town," the man replied.

"We found you unconscious on the beach earlier," another man, tall, with tall brown hair added.

Claire sat up. The man in red sat at the side of her bed. He reached out to shake hands with Claire.

"My name is Thomas. I am the Mayor of this town. We have heard that a storm came while your ship was sailing and that everyone on board had to leave the ship because of a huge wave."

"I rode a ship?" said Claire.

"Zack right here saw some of the boats coming to the town's shore and he got townspeople to help attend to the survivors. Aid from nearby towns and cities also came not long after. Some of the passengers were brought to their supposed destinations in the other islands in this area. Others sailed back to the ship's city of origin."

"I'm Zack. I live at a cottage in the beach. You're in Mineral Town."

"Mineral Town? This is Mineral Town?" said Claire.

"What is your name, young lady?" the Mayor asked.

"Uhm... I'm Claire from Sapphire City. But other than that, I couldn't remember anything that happened in the ship you are telling me that I rode. Wasn't there anyone with me when I came here?" She held her head and felt a painful bump.

"You must have gotten a kind of amnesia because of what happened. Are there other things you can remember? You seem familiar with the name of our town."

"All I remember is that I had planned with my brother to go to this place to talk about the farm my grandfather left."

"You're the granddaughter of James? James and I have been very good friends. I heard what happened to him. News about your parents also reached us. Our condolences."

She closed her eyes and recalled. 'Oh yeah, my grandpa and my parents.'

"So what would you like to talk about the farm?"

"Well, I would like to ask if you could let me be the one to take care of it?"

"Actually, we were about to contact James's family in the city after we heard about his passing. Then we also heard about what happened to your parents. We know it's only you and your brother now and we know how difficult it was for both of you so we decided to let you have some time."

"Thank you for your consideration Mr. Mayor."

"I did not expect you were planning to come here personally and even offer that you'd be the one to take care of the farm. I really appreciate your willingness. But you see, farming is quite a challenging thing to do. You would need to know stuff about planting and harvest and many others."

"I don't mind. My grandfather and my parents taught me stuff about this farm and this town. I would only need a few days to familiarize myself now that I am actually here again. And my brother will soon follow me here so eventually he could help me."

"That is wonderful to hear. But, don't you worry. Everyone in this town has his own special role that can help you in farming and other things so if you need anything, just feel free to visit anyone. You can go around town in the next few days to get to know the people and places."

"Wow! That's great! I'll start going around town tomorrow!"

"Alright! I know you will soon be able to recall your memories of the journey here. For now, you still have to rest. I am sure you've been worn out."

"Thank you, Mayor." And Claire hugged the Mayor.

"Hoho!" The Mayor patted her back. "Thank you too! Let's work together to save this farm and keep this town lively."

"Right!"

"We'll be leaving you to rest now. See you tomorrow Claire!"

"Yes Mayor. See you tomorrow!"

"We'll also leave you some food in the fridge to help you fill up. I'll also leave you with the funds left by your grandfather. They will all be more than enough until you can start earning well. And by the way, that is a picture of the town your grandfather hung so you would know the places here."

"Wow that is so much help Mayor. Thanks a lot."

oOo

"Tik ti la ok!" the sound of a rooster on Claire's alarm clock woke her up.

Claire opened her eyes, sat up and stretched her arms. "Alright! Harvest Moon farm, Mineral Town, here I go!" She then took a shower and ate her breakfast of bread and milk.

Later, she checked the town map the Mayor told her and planned her route in touring the town. She also checked weather forecast in the television.

'Hmm.. I think I should start at that cottage south of this farm..and theeeen..north of the right road..'

Once she opened her door, Zack was already gesturing that he was about to knock.

"Oh, Claire! Good morning! I came just in time! I'd like you to meet your new buddy."

"Woof! Woof!" A cute brown dog with white paws and mouth, and with height that reaches half of her leg was as if greeting her.

Claire knelt and patted the dog on its head. "Well hello there!"

"You can give him a name."

"Alright, I'll think about a special name for him."

Zack pointed to a wooden doghouse just beside the barn. "That would be his house, but of course you can have him inside your house. That dog house is for him so he can have a shaded place if ever you're out in town."

"That's great! Thanks!"

"By the way, my other purpose of coming here is to orient you about shipment."

Zack walked towards a wooden bin on the corner of the field, just in front of the house.

"This is the shipping bin. This is where you put things you want to sell. You can sell anything from your produce from harvest or from the livestock or from herbs and other plants you can find in the forest, the mountain or the beach. There are also ores and stones in the caves that you can also sell."

"Okay! I'll remember that!"

"But take note that I do not work on Sundays and holidays."

Claire giggled. "Sure thing."

Zack continued, "Your chicken coop and barn got their respective shipping bins so you don't have to go here for shipping your livestock produce."

"Oh that's great! Noted!"

"Don't overwork yourself alright or you'll get over fatigue."

"I'll remember that Zack, thank you!"

"Okay, then that would be all for now. I'll come back in a few days to pick shipments. Just as the Mayor said yesterday, you may go around town in a few days so you can get to know the people. Would three days be alright with you?"

"Sure thing! I'm excited to meet the people of the town."

"By the way, for your starting shipment, you can start off with goods you can find in the forest just south of this farm. See you!"

"Alright! Thanks again, Zack!" Claire waved at Zack as he exited the farm.

Then, she turned to her new four-legged barking buddy.

"Now, what to call you buddy?"

Claire knelt and stroked the dog's head. Then she lifted it to give it some cuddle.

As she carried her dog, she hummed the tune of "Ode to Joy."

"Woof!"

"Oooh! Did you like that? That's a tune by the famous musician Ludwig van Beethoven… Wait! I know! How about I call you that? Beethoven!"

"Woof!"

"Hmm! You must like it then! 'Beethoven' it is! Hello, Beethoven! I'm sure we'll have a great time together!"

Beethoven barked and licked her neck.

Claire giggled. "That tickles buddy!"

She put Beethoven down then she stood up. "I have to head to town now. I need to get to know the people and buy stuff to start the farming. I'll leave you here for a while so you can get to know the place."

Claire stroked his back and Beethoven started to run around. She was about to exit the farm south when a man with kinky eyes came and greeted.

"Good day! I'm Won. I'm a salesman from the East. How do you do?"

"Oh! Good day! My name is Claire! I'm doing fine, thank you!"

"I live with Zack at the beach. He told me about you coming here in town so I came here to tell you that I am selling some rare seeds. Drop by at our house if you're interested."

"Sure! I'll visit soon and try your seeds! Thanks!"

"Alright! I have to go to the other places in town. See you soon."

Then, Won left.

Claire left for the cottage at the south of the farm. Once she reached the place, she knocked on the door.

"It's open. Come in," said a husky deep voice from inside the cottage.

Claire opened the door and went inside. "Good morning!"

"Hey who are you? I haven't seen you here before."

"Hi! I'm Claire! I just moved in to the farm."

"I see. I'm Gotz. I'm a carpenter. Let me know if your farm buildings need remodeling or if you have other building projects in mind." The man was quite rude but he offered his hand for a shake. "Nice to meet you."

"Right. Nice to meet you too, Gotz!"

Claire's next stops were the livestock houses in the town which were adjacent to her farm. She took the road to the right of Gotz's cottage.

She knocked at the door of the house in Yodel Ranch then opened it peeking her head inside. "Hello? May I come in?"

"Good morning! Of course you may come in! You're a new face. You must be the new girl Mayor Thomas is talking about! I'm Barley, by the way. I run this cow ranch."

"Thanks for welcoming me. My name is Claire."

"I heard you're the granddaughter of James. He was a very hardworking man. May he rest in peace."

Claire smiled and nodded.

"There's my own granddaughter over there." Barley pointed to a little girl in pigtails. Claire walked to her.

"Hi!" Claire greeted. "I'm Claire! What's your name?"

"My name is May. It's my first time to see you. Are you a traveler?"

"Oh no honey. I'll be living in this town from now on. My house is at the Harvest Moon farm."

"Really? Wow! Can I visit you at your house?"

"Why of course sweetie."

"Weee! I'm excited to play with you!"

"Me too! Oh, I have to go now. I have to get to know the other townspeople. Nice meeting you May and Barley!"

"Have a great day Claire! Just come visit when you need to buy a cow or cow needs," Barley said.

"And when you're going to play with me!" May added.

"Yes, sure! Thank you!"

Then Claire met the family in the poultry farm just beside Yodel Ranch.

The pink haired woman at the desk spoke to her. "Hi! I haven't seen you around before. Wait. You must be Claire. The Mayor has mentioned you."

"Ah yes I am. Hello!"

"I'm Lillia! I live in this poultry farm with my children, Rick and Popuri. Rick, Popuri, will you come over for a while? We have a new town fellow."

A blonde guy in glasses and a younger pink haired girl approached.

"This is Claire, she's now managing Harvest Moon Farm."

"Hi Claire! My name is Rick!

"Welcome to Mineral Town! I'm Popuri!"

They shook hands.

"I'm pleased to meet you all," Claire said.

"As you can see, our business is poultry. We buy and sell chickens," Rick said.

"You can also visit if you need chicken food or medicine," Popuri added.

"I will remember that. Thank you! Uhm, I'll be going now, I still have to visit the other places here," said Claire.

"No problem, Claire! Have fun!" said Lillia.

"Sure! Thank you!"

Claire then went to the blacksmith's place which is at the second block from her house.

Inside, she was greeted by an old man.

"Welcome young lady. You must be the granddaughter of James that the Mayor mentioned. I am Saibara. I'm the town's blacksmith."

"Nice to meet you Saibara. I'm Claire."

"Come here if you need tool upgrade. I also make machines and jewelries."

"Thank you Saibara!"

At the block next to the blacksmith's, there were two buildings. First, she greeted the woman who came out from the house beside the sign, "Aja Winery."

"Hello sweetie! I bet you are the new girl who will take care of Harvest Moon Farm."

"Hi! Yes I am! My name is Claire. Nice to meet you Madam.." Claire said as she reached out her hand.

"Oh no please just call me Manna," the woman said as she shook hands with Claire. "Honey, come over here. This is the new girl the Mayor told us about," she called to someone from the vineyard just beside the winery.

A tall man with mostly black hair, with a few streaks of gray, approached them.

"Honey, this is Claire. Claire, this is my husband, Duke."

"Pleased to meet you Sir.."

"Just Duke would be fine. Pleasure to meet you, young lady."

They shook hands.

"So this is Aja Winery, just as you can read on the sign over there." Duke said. "I am in charge of the wine production while my wife takes care of the wine selling."

"Oh, Claire darling, wait here for a while, I'll just get you something." After a while, Manna came back with a bottle of wine. "Here, it's our welcome gift for you."

"Yes please accept it and try it when you get home, it's made from the grapes carefully chosen from the vineyard," Duke said.

"Wow, thank you very much! I will surely try this when I get home… I will leave now, if you don't mind. There are still a few places I still have to visit in town."

"Oh no problem," said Duke.

"I'm sure people here will like you. You are very sweet and polite," said Manna.

Claire blushed a little. "Thank you. Uhm, I'll see you around."

The couple waved at her.

Claire went to the building beside the vineyard. It was labeled "Doug's Inn." A girl with orange hair in braided ponytail and who was wiping a table noticed her and greeted her.

"Hi! Are you going to check in here at the inn?"

"Uhm, I'm sorry but no. I'm living at the Harvest Moon farm." Claire said apologetically.

"Oh I see. No worries! Anyways, so you're the new girl who will live at the farm! Hi! My name is Ann!"

"Hello! My name is Claire."

An man approached the two girls. "I see you got a new acquaintance over here."

"Oh hey Dad! This is Claire. She lives at the farm."

"Ooooh! You're the girl the Mayor is talking about! It's good to finally see you."

Claire shook hands with him. "Ah yes. Thank you."

"I'm Doug. This is our inn."

"Here at the first floor is the restaurant. My dad cooks for the customers. We also have a telephone just at the counter. Upstairs are bedrooms. I like doing the housekeeping stuff," Ann said. "Say Dad! Since it's her first time here, why don't we treat her with a free first meal? After all, it's already lunch time."

"Hmm. I think that's a good idea so she would know how my cooking tastes like. Please stay for lunch, Claire."

"Uhm, okay. Thank you so much you are so kind."

Claire enjoyed a scrumptious lunch of pasta and juice prepared by Doug.

"That was a wonderful meal. Thank you very much!"

"I'm glad you liked it," Doug said.

"Come back here to try Dad's other specialties okay?" Ann said.

"Sure!" Claire replied.

"But you would have to pay next time," said Doug.

"Of course. I understand. Still, thanks for today."

Claire next visited the house in the northwest of the town.

When she knocked on the door, a woman opened it. "Good afternoon! You're a new face. You must be the new girl Mayor Thomas was talking about. Please come in."

"Thank you. My name is Claire."

"I'm Anna. It's so lovely to meet you."

Just then, a man was coming down a staircase. "Honey, I just discovered something about the herb… Hmm? Who do we have here?"

"Hey hon. Meet Claire, she's the new girl who will take care of the farm."

"Oh, welcome welcome! I'm Basil, by the way. I study plants here in Mineral Town." He shook hands with Claire.

"Nice to meet you both," Claire said.

"How old are you Claire?" Anna asked.

"I'm 23."

"Wonderful! You're just the same age as our daughter. You can visit her at the library just beside our house."

"Okay. Thank you for telling me. I shall go now."

"Alright. I'm sure you will like it here in Mineral Town. Have fun!" said Basil.

Claire proceeded to the library and there, she met the girl at the desk.

"Hi! I've been to your house earlier. Your mom said I could meet you here. I'm Claire."

"Hello! Welcome to the library. I'm Mary. Since you're new in town, you'd find it really helpful to come here to get to know the town more through the books and other materials."

"That's great to know! Sure I'll come here every once in a while."

"Of course we're also updating the materials so you can check out new stuff to read too."

"Thanks Mary! Uhm, I'll be going now. I still have to visit a few more houses."

"No problem! See you next time!"

East of the library is the Mayor's house. Mayor Thomas was right there. "Well, hello there Claire! What brings you here?"

"Hi Mayor! I've been checking out the townspeople. Everyone is so nice!"

"I see. This is a small town so everyone is like a family to one another. Have you met everybody already?"

"Well, not yet really. If I remember it correctly, I still have to visit four more buildings?"

"Oh. Alright! You better get going. I'm sure you'll be able to get acquainted with everyone before the day ends."

"Thank you Mayor."

"You might bump into my son on your way. He's the town cop. Please tell him to get home in time."

"Sure thing Mayor."

"Thank you so much Claire."

Then, Claire went next door.

"Hello?" she said as she knocked on the door.

When the door opened, at first, she was confused that there was no one in front of her. But a little voice greeted her. "Hi! Are you new here?"

Claire looked down to see a little boy who looks like the same age as May. "Hello dear. Yes I am new here. But I will be living here. My name is Claire. What's yours?"

"My name is Stu. Where are you going to live?"

"I'll be at the farm."

"Wow! May I visit you there to play?"

"Of course you may!"

"Yeah! Grandma, grandma, look here is the new girl who lives at the farm!" Stu pulled her inside towards his grandmother who was seated. "Here she is grandma."

The old woman reached Claire's hand and sandwiched it between hers. "Welcome to our town. I'm Ellen."

"I'm Claire, nice to meet you."

"Thomas has told me about you. You are James's granddaughter right?"

"Yes I am."

"Your grandfather was a very industrious man. He contributed a lot to the development of this town."

"Ah yes. My parents told me. And I have seen in pictures at home how the early Mineral Town was like."

"I remember my days of youth when I can still walk. I used to regularly visit houses to have good chats with the neighbors. But now, my legs are not working because of old age."

"Don't worry Ellen. I'll visit you regularly to tell you stories about town today." Claire also thought of getting a wheel chair for Ellen but didn't tell her just yet. Still, that was one of the things that motivated her in doing well in the farm.

"That is very kind of you Claire."

"Don't mention it. I will be leaving you two now. Stu, look after Grandma okay?"

"I will," said Stu.

"Take care, Claire," said Ellen.

Claire's next stop was the town's supermarket. As soon as she stepped in, she noticed the merchandise so she checked them and their prices.

"Hello Miss! How may I help you?" A man in charge at the cash register greeted her.

"Oh hi! Sorry I got immediately excited with your merchandise. I'm Claire. I'm living at the farm. I'd like to buy some seeds for my start."

"I see. By the way, I'm Jeff. It's nice to meet you. So what would you like to buy?"

"Uhm, I'd like to have a bag of each of the seeds of the crops grown this season."

The purchases were processed and Jeff handed Claire the bag of the purchases.

"Thank you for these!" said Claire.

Just then, the door open and a blonde girl entered.

"Hi Dad! Oh you're here!" she immediately noticed Claire. "Rick told me about you! Welcome to our town! I'm Karen! You're Claire, right?"

"Ah yes."

Then Karen hugged her tightly. She felt a little awkward but smiled.

"I see you already bought some stuff. But wait.." she then turned to her father. "Dad, let's give her this bag for free," she said, holding a small green seed bag. "It will be practical for her to plant this in her farm."

"I agree with you. Okay, Claire, you can have it," said Jeff.

"Yey! Thanks Dad! Claire, that's grass. You plant it once and you never have to plant again. It just keeps growing after you mow."

"This is wonderful, thank you very much Karen and Jeff," said Claire.

"Weh-wait.. don't leave yet. You still have to meet my mom. I'll call her."

Then Karen returned with her mom. "It's her, see?" she said, pointing Claire to her mother.

"Hi there Claire! Karen already told me your name. My name is Sasha," and she held Claire's hand.

"All good? All good? Okay. My turn again! Claire, I'll tell you some things you need to know about the people and places and other stuff in Mineral Town.

And Claire, spent quite a long while in the supermarket as Karen gave her version on Mineral Town orientation.

The sun was setting when she stepped out of the supermarket. The next place she visited was the clinic.

"Uhm..hi..good afternoon" Claire said as she peeked in from the door.

"Good afternoon! Please come in! Have a seat." A girl with brown mid-length hair motioned to the couch beside the receiving desk.

"Oh thanks, but I'm fine. I'll be quick. I'm familiarizing myself with the town and the people."

"Alright. But yeah, we're new to one another. Are you a tourist?"

"No, I'll be living here. I stay there at the farm. My name is Claire."

"Oooh! A new town fellow! Hi! I'm Elli! I'm Mineral Town's nurse." The girl sweetly said.

They smiled at each other.

"Of course a clinic won't be complete without a doctor. He's there at the other side. You can go to him. He's not really busy," Elli said. "I'll accompany you to him."

"Okay, thank you," said Claire.

Then, they walked to the doctor.

"Excuse us for a while Doctor. I'd like you to meet the new girl at the farm. Her name is Claire."

The Doctor rose from his seat and shook hands with Claire.

"Pleasure to meet you, Claire. I'm Trent. Thanks for introducing her, Elli."

The two girls went back to the receiving area and sat together at the couch. Elli briefed Claire about the clinic.

"Well, this is a clinic..so..health stuff," Elli giggled, then continued. "You can have your consultation with the doctor for a very low fee. As with me, well, I sell medicine. You'd need them in case you want to have extra energy for work."

"Thank you so much for informing me, Elli, I better go now, just a couple of places to go."

"No problem, Claire! By the way, have you met my grandma and Stu?"

"Yes I did."

"My grandma cares a lot for us even though she cannot walk. And Stu, although he's sometimes naughty, he gives us cheers at home… Oh yeah, you were on your way. Your next destination must be the church, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Okay. I shouldn't be delaying you. I'll see you around."

"Thanks, Elli. See ya!"

Then Claire proceeded to the church.

A man, who is probably the pastor, based on his attire, greeted her. "Good afternoon! You must be Claire, the girl the mayor has been talking about. It's wonderful to finally meet you!"

"Yeah, it's wonderful to meet you too!" Claire quickly thought to herself, news about her coming quickly spread all over town. Many people she met had an idea about her.

"I'm Carter. As you can see, I'm the pastor in this town's Church. May the Harvest Goddess bless you in your farm endeavors. The citizens of the town are always more than happy to help you so don't hesitate to ask if you need anything."

"Thank you very much Carter."

"Oh! By the way, behind the church, you can find the cottage of the harvest sprites. They are very friendly little men."

"Harvest sprites? They're real?"

"Well, see for yourself," Carter said, smiling.

"Alright. Thanks again Carter."

True enough, there is a hut behind the Church and when she knocked on the door, little voices greeted him.

"Come in!" the voices said.

When she peeked inside, she was surprised to find seven men dressed in different colors moving around their little home. They all gathered to welcome her.

"Welcome, budum! We are the harvest sprites of Mineral Town!"

And each of them introduced himself, according to the order of the colors of the rainbow: Chef, Nappy, Hoggy, Timid, Aqua, Staid, Bold.

"It's so delighting to meet you all. My name is Claire."

"We are also delighted to meet you, friend Claire. Come here anytime that you want to play or if you need help at the farm, budum."

Later, Claire went to the brown cottage at the beach. Zack was at the porch checking out products to be exported from the town.

"Hi Zack! So this is your house. What a nice location! Just at the beach!"

"Hello Claire! How was your tour of the town?"

"It was great! Everyone is so nice!"

"I'm glad you're finding this town nice. Well, I have to get back inside and check on Won's goods for export."

"Okay. I'll just have a little stroll at the beach."

"Alright."

Claire walked barefooted on the sand as she watched the sun disappear from the horizon.

When it was already dark, she walked back home. Along the way, she met Harris, the town cop, who is also the Mayor's son.

"Good evening! You must be Claire. My dad already told me about you."

"Hi, yes it's me."

"Are you on your way home?"

"Yes I am."

"Well then, be careful on your way."

"I will. Thanks!"

oOo

At home, Claire had a dinner of salad and fish. She also tasted the wine given by the Aja Winery couple and thought it was sweet with the right sting.

She had earlier carried Beethoven with her inside the house. She played with him for a while after dinner.

Then, they both set themselves to sleep. Beethoven was at the side of her bed.

"Goodnight Beethoven!"

"Woof!"

When Claire was in bed, she tried to remember how she got to town. But her head just hurt for doing so.

She closed her eyes. She could not ponder more because she had been exhausted with all the touring for the day so she quickly fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5: UMA

**Chapter 5: Uma**

"Woof woof!" Beethoven sounded very enthusiastic. He barked just as he heard Claire's clock alarmed.

Claire slowly opened her eyes. "Hmmm?" Then she noticed her little buddy sitting up beside her bed and looking at her. She cheerfully got up. "Okay! Come on! Let's prepare the farm today."

After breakfast and bath, she excitedly searched her chest for tools she would use. She got an axe, a sickle, a hammer, and a hoe.

When she got out of her house, Barley had just arrived bringing a pony with him.

"Good morning Claire! Sorry to bother you this early morning."

"Good morning Barley! No, it's okay. How may I help you?"

"Well, you see here, this pony was born in our ranch. But I have been very busy in attending to the cows lately. I could not take charge of too many animals because I easily get tired, probably because of my old age. I also take care of May who is still very young and very active. So if it's alright with you, will you take care of this pony?"

"No problem, Barley. Besides, there's a stable in this farm. There is certainly a place for him here."

"Wonderful. Thank you. You know, when you get to raise him well and fit, you can enter the horse race held in the town square annually."

"Really? That means I have to really take good care of him and then when he's grown, we should train for the race. Sounds exciting! Thanks Barley!"

"No, it's me who really has to thank you."

Then they shook hands.

"Think of a name for him!" Barley said as he left.

Then Claire turned to the pony and stroke it's face. "A new farm buddy to name..hmmm.. There's Beethoven.. and you…I could call you… 'Dvorak' That's right.. It's great to name farm animals according to classical musicians!" she said. "Would that be wonderful, Beethoven?"

Beethoven, who was sitting beside her, barked.

"I think that's a yes." Then she faced her pony again. "Okay, Dvorak, welcome to Harvest Moon farm! I'll take care of you and we'll race when you grow up!"

Then she escorted her pony to its stable. She fixed the place a little, gathering hay and filling up the water trough. Once she's done, she left Dvorak in the stable and proceeded in preparing the field.

Claire worked to clear out about 3/4 of the field, which included the upper half, and the lower west side. She thought of this so she could grow grass near the chicken coop and the barn.

She finished a little bit over lunchtime that her stomach crumbled once she was done. She went inside her house to eat.

Afterwards, she decided to wander in the forest to gather some stuff she could sell. Zack would be picking up shipments in the next day but of course she had to also be familiar of the forest and the mountain so if she could stumble along stuff to sell, then she would take them.

She walked out south of her farm and there she immediately spotted a blue herb which she immediately put in her rucksack. She noticed the street signs telling the directions to the hot spring and spring mine, and to Mother's Hill which she followed.

Claire reached the hot spring. Northeast of the bath was a waterfall. Beside the waterfall was the entrance to the spring mine. She only briefly stayed there to check on the area then she went on her way to Mother's Hill.

On the way, she passed by the town lake, then a grassy meadow, then she walked towards Mother's Hill.

She was amazed with the view of the city. She stayed there for a while feeling overwhelmed of her new life. Suddenly, she remembered her brother.

'Oh my! I've got to get to town to call my brother,' she thought.

So Claire immediately ran back to her farm with some bamboo shoots and a few more herbs she picked during her walk in the forest. She put them all at the shipping bin, ready for pick up for the next day. Then, she rushed to the inn to phone Jack.

oOo

"Hello?"

"Hello Jack? It's me!"

"Hello? Me who? Who are you? Wehweh-wait..Claire?"

"Yes! Hey how are you?"

"I'm good! But hey, I should be the one to ask you that. How are you? I've heard the news about what happened to Starboard. I've been contacting Starboard's office for information about you but you weren't in the list of passengers that rode the rescue boats."

"I'm alright Jack. Actually, I'm here in Mineral Town."

"Whu..what? Mineral Town? That's unbelievable! How did you get there?"

"Well, I don't know how I got here. But I woke up here with townspeople looking after me. I was able to talk to the Mayor. I've discussed with him our concerns for the farm."

"And?"

"And he allowed me to take care of the farm."

"Wow! That's great! So how is it there?"

"Well I already toured town and got to know the townspeople. I got a dog and a pony. I'll start planting crops and I'll also purchase a chicken tomorrow!" Claire delightfully chatted with her brother.

"You sound like you've easily adapted to life there. I'm glad for you. I'm excited to get there!"

"I'm excited for you to come here too! But we have to wait 'til you finish school by next summer so better do your best in your studies."

"Yeah. I will! Take care of yourself there okay?"

"Yeah. You too. I have to go now. Bye Jack."

"Bye big sister!"

oOo

Claire was walking back home when she bumped into someone beside Saibara's house.

A blonde boy, wearing off white long sleeves and pants and with cap bearing the caption "UMA," held her on the arms and looked at her.

"Miss, are you okay? I'm so sorry I didn't notice you."

"Uhm, yeah. I'm sorry… I wasn't looking either." Then Claire looked at the boy's hand on her arm.

The boy quickly removed his hold of Claire. "Oops! Sorry about that! I just held you so you wouldn't be out of balance or something," he said grinning, with one hand at the back of his head.

"That's alright. And thanks! You're a quick thinker," Claire said.

"Oh thank you. But I still have much to learn according to my grandpa…." He made a side eye at Saibara's house. "…Including stuff about this town…Oh wait. It's my first time meeting you. I'm Gray." He extended his hand to Claire.

Claire shook hands with the boy named Gray. "I'm Claire. I just moved in to the farm. You're also new here? How long have you been here? And were you looking at Saibara's? He's your grandfather?"

"Yes… Around three days... Yes… Yes."

Claire raised one eye brow. "Huh?"

"I just answered in the order of your questions." The boy said, chuckling.

"Oh you!" Then Claire pouted.

The boy laughed, and Claire laughed with him.

"Anyways, I decided to live here to help out my grandpa. It turns out…I am still the one who needs his help."

Claire smiled. "Well, wisdom comes with age. He really knows a lot. He can definitely help you in learning about blacksmith works and the town. You can of course make friends with everyone here. Everyone is nice."

"Hmm.. I think I just found one who I want to befriend, right here, right now. I think she's nice."

"Who?" Claire was looking left and right, acting like she didn't know what the boy was talking about.

"You of course. Who else is here?"

They both laughed again.

"Well, nice meeting you, friend..hihi!" Claire said as she shook hands for the second time with her new friend.

"Nice meeting you too Claire. If you have needs for your tools, I can also help you, but just on basic stuff. I do still have much to learn to master the craft of being a blacksmith."

"Sure Gray! Thanks!"

oOo

Claire got back to her farm.

She still had much time so she decided to prepare the chicken coop since she planned to buy a chicken tomorrow. There was not much work to do. Her grandpa had kept the place orderly.


	6. Chapter 6: Domestic Blush

**Chapter 6: Domestic Blush**

The next day, Claire let Beethoven and Dvorak run around outside.

As for planting work, she planted spring crops. She prepared three groups of soil patches, each group allotted for one type of crop. She planted turnip, potato and cucumber.

Later, she went to the poultry farm to buy a chicken and chicken feed.

Rick carried the chicken for her while she held the feed as they walked to her farm's coop.

Once they got inside the coop, Rick put the chicken down and helped Claire load the feed into the dispenser.

Then Rick oriented Claire about caring for her chicken. They discussed matters on feeding, giving medicine, incubating eggs, making mayonnaise and putting chickens outside.

"I think that's all I have to tell you. If you have any other concern, just call me or Popuri. We'll be very glad to help."

"Thank you so much Rick!"

When Rick left, Claire turned to the new member of the Harvest Moon farm family.

"My first chicken! I'm gonna call you 'Pachelbel.'

Claire left Pachelbel with feed on its box.

There wasn't much left to do so she decided to go to town.

She thought of going to Carter to tell him about her encounter with the harvest sprites.

oOo

When she opened the church door, surprisingly, Carter greeted him from afar.

"Claire! You came at a perfect time! Will you please come over? I have something to tell you."

Claire approached him.

"Actually, I have a favor to ask you."

"What is it Carter?"

"Well, you see that lad over there?" Carter was pointing to a boy in a ponytailed brown hair standing by the window.

"Yeah? What about him?"

"Well, he's also new in town. But unlike you, it's quite hard for him to adapt because it's difficult for him to talk to people. I was wondering maybe you could try to talk to him and maybe he would find it comfortable to talk to you."

'But seriously this is making me nervous,' she thought. Still, she told Carter, "Okay. I'll do my best."

"Thank you Claire. I'm counting on you."

Claire walked towards the boy by the window. No matter how nervous she was, there was no turning back.

She touched the boy's shoulder.

"Uhm.. e..excuse me? You are new here, aren't you?"

The boy turned to her. Brown eyes met her blue ones. Claire was startled, and felt that the boy's presence was something familiar to her. She tried to recall but she shook her head and thought that wasn't the time to think about that.

Then, the boy in front of her spoke. "Uh…hi.. yes I am. Sorry, I feel a little awkward right now."

Claire held his hand. "Don't worry. Just relax," she said with a smile.

"Alright… phew… Hmmm.. I think I feel better now."

"There… That's the spirit! You know, I am also new here. I live at the farm just south of town."

"So you run the farm all by yourself?"

"Well yes.. But everyone here in town is of help so I'm good!" Claire cheerfully said.

"Great to hear that. Good luck with everything! I..I look forward to talking to you again."

"Me too. Uhm, I have to go, I have some things to tell Carter."

"Oh no problem."

"Alright. Thanks! See you around!"

The boy faced the window again as Claire walked back to Carter. He greeted her delightfully but in a voice close to a whisper. "I saw everything turned out well. Thank you so much."

"I'm glad to meet him. Thank you too Carter. By the way, I came here to tell you that I have met the harvest sprites! They are so adorable and friendly."

"Indeed. They can help you in farm work and you may also play with them to develop their skills."

"Yes, they told me about farm work and playing. But thank you for telling me about developing their skills."

Then Claire noticed the time on Carter's clock.

"Oh! I got to go now. I have to add more to the shipment and be at the farm when Zack arrives for pick up."

"Alright. Be careful on your way! May the Harvest Goddess bless you!"

"Thanks Carter!"

Then Claire rushed back to her farm.

When Claire left, Carter spoke. The boy was still facing the window.

"She is very sweet and kind. Everyone who meets her will surely never forget her face.. her naaame.." Carter said implying a message to the boy.

"Her name…" the boy said like his thoughts were floating, then he immediately got back to his senses. "Oh! Her name! I forgot to ask her about it!" Then he turned to Carter. "Carter..I..I have to go out, there is something I have to do."

Carter just nodded with a smile and the boy sprinted to catch the girl whom he just talked to earlier.

oOo

Claire was walking beside Duke and Manna's house when she heard running steps so she turned around. She was surprised to see the boy with ponytail running towards her.

The boy stopped once he noticed that Claire had turned to face him.

"Oh hi.. You were in a hurry?" Claire said.

"Uh.. I..well.. it's just that.. uhm.." The boy was looking down and he was turning red. "I'd like to know your name."

Claire was quiet for a few seconds then burst into laughter. "Oh.. I'm sorry," she said while still laughing. "I've talked a lot but didn't introduce myself. Silly me." She giggled.

"My name is Claire. It's a pleasure to meet you…" She reached out for a handshake.

"Cliff. Call me Cliff." He held her hand.

They held hands for seconds. They both looked at one another's hand and did not notice they both turned red.

Later, they both let go and both let out awkward laughs.

"Uhm, I guess I better go," Claire said with a shy smile.

"Uh..sure.. and I'll be going to the inn. Uhm… It's great to meet you Claire."

Cliff walked east and Claire headed south.

They were both unaware that they both smiled as they walked.

oOo

Claire was able to add to the shipment just in time of Zack's arrival.

Zack lauded her for a job well done as a starter.

When Zack left, Claire walked Dvorak back to his stable.

Then, she went back home with Beethoven.

When she was lying in bed, Cliff's face flashed on her mind. She touched her cheeks and was surprised by their warmth.

"Cliff," was the last thing she said before she drifted into dreamland.

oOo

At the inn, Cliff was also lying in his bed with his hands behind his head.

He could only think of the girl who talked to him at church.

'Claire,' he thought, and he soon fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7: Little Secrets

**Chapter 7: Little Secrets**

One morning, Claire was on her way to the beach when she met Gray who was on his way to his grandfather's.

"Good morning Claire! Where are you headed?"

"Good morning Gray! I'm going to the beach. I won't ask you. I'm sure you're going to your grandfather. Haha."

"Yeah. Hey wait. I'd like to introduce you to my grandpa."

"Huh? But I already met him a few days ago?"

"Yeah but I'd like to tell him I've got to make friends with you."

"Well..ok."

oOo

Gray and Claire greeted Saibara together.

"Good morning grandpa!" "Good morning Saibara!"

"Oh. Hello you two. So you have met."

"Yes, we met yesterday," said Gray.

"Did he bother you Claire?" Saibara asked.

"Oh no. It's fine," Claire responded.

"So what brings you here, Claire?" the old man asked again.

"Well.. Gray brought me here.." Claire said, giggling.

"So he did bother you," Gray's grandpa teased.

"Of course not!" Gray said. "Uhm..well.. Maybe sort of?" Then he turned to Claire. "You were on your way to the beach."

"Haha..it's really fine Gray. Besides, I wouldn't do much at the beach."

"Ha..ha..ha.." Saibara laughed gently. "I was just kidding. Anyway, your meeting is perfect timing! Gray, you should take Claire to the Spring Mine and teach her about ores and other things about mining."

Then Gray looked at his blonde friend curiously as if asking Claire if it's ok with her.

Claire noticed him and smiled. "That would be wonderful! I should learn about mining this early so I can soon ship good minerals for the town. Shall we go now Saibara?"

"Definitely. You be good Gray."

"Of course I'm good grandpa," Gray said boastfully, in a joking tone.

All three laughed.

"Come on Claire. So you can get back home in time."

"Right! Let's go."

oOo

Gray and Claire explored only the first two levels of the Spring Mine.

Gray showed Claire how copper, silver and junk ore look like. He told her to take them for shipment.

He would show her gold, mystrile, adamantite and orichalcum when they get back at his grandpa's house.

The two were exiting the Spring Mine when they saw Basil, Ana and Mary pass.

Gray was startled when he saw Mary.

Claire noticed it. She laughed discreetly to the side. Just then, she thought of running to the family to greet them when Gray quickly grabbed her arm.

"Hey wait.." Gray said, whispering.

"What's the matter?" Claire was acting innocent but was laughing inside.

"You..you know them?"

"Well yeah. I met them when I toured town. The girl with glasses is Mary and the man and woman in front of her are her parents, Basil and Ana. Come on! I'll introduce you."

Claire stepped but Gray pulled her back.

"No.." He was still whispering.

"Huh? Why?"

"Uhm.. maybe some other time?"

"Alright. Whatever you say. Anyway, why don't we go back to your grandpa's house so you could show me the other minerals I still have to see." Claire knew what was up with Gray but she decided not to talk about it so as not to make him feel pressured or embarrassed.

"Okay."

oOo

When they got back at Saibara's place, Gray showed Claire other minerals that may be found in the Spring Mine. Saibara also advised Claire of bringing turbojolt and bodigizer when she's mining.

Then, Saibara asked Gray to deliver some tools he made to Zack for export.

Gray remembered Claire was headed to the beach earlier. "You can go to the beach this time for real Claire…hehe..let's go there together since I have tools to bring Zack."

"Sure thing."

Then they left.

Gray parted with Claire at the beach as he headed to Zack while Claire picked up some herbs to include in the shipment.

Claire went to the shore and stared at the horizon. She wondered how she got to Mineral Town and she felt frowned because she couldn't remember about it. Suddenly, she heard a voice call.

"Claire?"

She turned and saw Cliff. "Cliff! Hi! What are you doing here? Uhm..sorry..well..it's wonderful to see you." He must have seen her look down and she felt shy about it.

"You look a little sad," he said to her looking at her worriedly. He did notice she was not okay."Would you like to talk about it? I'll keep it a secret if you want."

Claire didn't want to burden Cliff with her own issues. "I'm okay, Cliff. But is it alright if I ask you to stay here for a while?"

"Uh..of course..sure.."

Together, they sat on the sand and looked at the picturesque view of the setting sun painting the sky orange, pink, and purple and being reflected by the sea.

Cliff understood that Claire didn't want to talk about what's bothering her so he tried to speak to her about a different subject.

"I've made a few acquaintances lately."

Claire seemed to have gained a little spirit. "Really? That's great to know," she said softly, with a smile that doesn't seem fake, but was quite small. "And who did you just meet lately?"

"Well, there's Carter, that's given already,"

Claire giggled.

"..and of course Mayor Thomas, Harris, then there's Zack and Won… and the people at the inn, Doug, Ann, regular visitors at the inn, Duke, Harris, Basil and Saibara and his grandson, my roommate Gray."

"Really? Gray is your roommate?"

"Yeah. He told me there's not much room in his grandpa's house so he is staying at the inn. You seem to be familiar of him."

"Quite. I just met him a few days ago. Well, I have outnumbered you. I've met everyone in town..haha.. but you'll get to know everyone soon." Her smile was improving. "…Hey, how about I walk with you around town tomorrow? I'll help you get to know the people here."

"Huh? Uh.." Cliff was torn between saying no that would disappoint her, and yes that would make him seem he really really liked to be with her. But he did really really like to be with her.

"You can't say no! We'll go tomorrow! I don't have much to do after farm work! Haha!"

"Well.. if you insist. And besides, that would great because I'll get to know more townspeople," he said, '..and I get to spend the day with you,' he thought.

"I'm free tomorrow around 10!"

"I'll go to your place to pick you up then?"

"Yep!" Claire was more cheerful.

Cliff felt glad to see her smile.

Just then, someone called from the brown cottage.

"Hello Claire! Hello Cliff! Claire! I'm going to get the shipments now. You can stay here. I'll just give you your earnings later."

"Zack! I'll go in a while! I have to put the animals inside their shelters anyway. I'll just follow you!"

"Okay! I'll go ahead!"

Zack went up the beach stairs leading to Rose Square.

Claire turned to Cliff.

"I'm so sor.."

"It's okay. Go. We'll meet tomorrow anyway," Cliff said kindly.

"Still I'm so sorry. And Cliff," she sandwiched Cliff's hand between hers, "…Thank you. This means so much to me."

"Yeah," was all that came out of his mouth. If it wasn't for the setting sun, Claire must have noticed that he turned red.

She rose and ran to the beach stairs but she called him at the last step, "Cliff! See you tomorrow!" and she waved.

"Yes! I'll see you!" He waved back.

Cliff looked back at the view and also felt sad. But he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to compose himself.

"In time," he said.

From the brown cottage, Gray saw that Claire and Cliff spent a little time together by the shore, he couldn't see Cliff's expressions because he was directed on Claire, but he could see that Claire got a mix of shyness and happiness with Cliff.

'It looks like she also has her apple of the eyes in this town," he thought, smiling. He was happy for Claire. Then he remembered to ask Cliff about his thoughts on her when he sees him at the inn later.

oOo

"So what's going on between you and Claire, dude?" Gray and Cliff were talking in their room at the inn.

Cliff was shocked. "How did you? Uh…I mean.. How..why..uh.." He turned red.

Gray laughed hysterically to tease Cliff. "Gotcha man! Haha!"

"Okay..okay.." Cliff said, almost whispering.

Gray grinned. "Really? You and Claire? That's amaz.."

"Put it down, Gray. No. We're not like what you think. It..it's only me who feels this way for her."

Gray remembered how Claire fondly looked at Cliff at the beach. "Then why don't you just tell her?"

"Nnno..no..not just yet."

"But what's keeping you from telling her how you feel?"

"I…I don't think I'd be suitable for her. I don't even have a job right now."

"Oh that's lame. You're new in town like Claire and me. Once you get to know everyone, you might find someone who needs help in business, believe me."

"I hope so Gray."

"I know so Cliff. Hahaha. And once you get to earn well, you should tell her."

Just then, "Knock knock.. Cliff? Gray?"

Gray opened the door. "Hi Ann! Come on in!"

"No, it's okay. I just came to tell you that dinner's ready so you can come down now." Then Ann peeked at Cliff. "Hi Cliff! You should eat! I cooked a dish for you."

"Just for him?" Gray said, joking.

"For you two. Yeah.. for you two."

"Alright, we'll be downstairs in a while." Gray said.

"Okay. I'll wait for you both."

Gray closed the door as Ann went downstairs.

As she descended the stairs, she thought about what she heard when she came at the boys' door.

… _You should tell her._

Ann blushed and smiled at what she heard, thinking Gray must have been referring to her since she's the girl Cliff sees regularly.

At their room, as Gray closed their door, he approached Cliff and murmured, "I think you have one more thing worry about aside from your job," he said, pointing his thumb towards the door, as he meant Ann who had a crush on Cliff.

"There's nothing to worry about Ann. She's nice. She's nice to everyone." Cliff said.

"I don't think so." Gray hinted at Cliff but did not explain further. He wanted Cliff to understand everything by himself so he would know what to do.


	8. Chapter 8: Tour Guide

**Chapter 8: Tour guide**

Claire woke up in a new day with enthusiasm. She grabbed her meal and went outside to water the plants, then fed Pachelbel. She went back north of the farm to go to Dvorak and attend to him.

Back outside, as she passed by the barn, Claire thought she should buy a cow today since Yodel Ranch would be part of _their_ itinerary. Then she smiled as the face of her companion later showed in her imagination.

Then Cliff had just entered the farm. He walked towards the door of her house.

Claire combed her hair with her hand then hurried to Cliff.

"Cliff!" She waved at him.

"Oh hi Claire! Good morning!"

She stopped in front of him, held both her knees and panted. "Good morning! You're early. You must be excited."

Cliff froze and turned red. "Uh…"

"Well..me too," Claire said, smiling. "Uhm, I still have to take a bath though. It might take quite a while."

"No worries. I got here quite early. I can wait."

"Okay. Why don't you watch some tv shows while I get myself ready?"

"Uh.. I'll be fine here outside."

"No you won't." She grabbed his arm and dragged him inside her house.

Inside her house, Claire asked Cliff to be seated at her couch in front of the tv.

She went to her fridge to check the food she had.

"Pudding for snack?"

"I'm good Claire. I had a heavy breakfast at the inn."

Claire went to the couch and leaned at the armrest. Her face was close to Cliff. She looked worried.

Cliff felt awkwardly nervous when his face was close to Claire's. He noticed how worried she was so he held her shoulder. "I'm really alright Claire. Don't worry."

Then it was Claire who felt awkwardly shocked at the touch of Cliff so she raised herself.

"Well then, I should be getting ready now. You just watch tv and feel at home okay?"

 _Feel at home._ "Yes, thank you Claire."

Claire took her bath and Cliff played with Beethoven while watching tv.

After a few minutes, Claire stepped out of her bathroom in pink overalls.

"Sorry for making you wait." She was drying her hair as she spoke.

"No, it's fine.. are you.." Cliff turned his head to Claire and was mesmerized. "..ready to go?"

"In a bit. I'll just fix my hair."

oOo

Claire and Cliff visited Gotz, and then Lilia, Rick and Popuri at the Poultry Farm, and then Yodel Ranch.

At Yodel Ranch, Claire remembered to buy a cow from Barley. She named the cow "Mendelsson."

When it was noon, Cliff invited Claire to have a lunch at the inn.

Afterwards, they proceeded to the library to meet Mary, then to Ellen's, to the Supermarket, meeting Jeff, and the Clinic, seeing Elli and Doctor Trent.

Along the way, they saw Carter who was with May and Stu.

"Hi!" Claire greeted them.

The kids approached and embraced her.

Cliff stared at Claire who was cheerfully attending to the children. Then, Carter called his attention.

"Hello Cliff…. Cliff? Cliff?" Carter knew where Cliff's attention was glued.

"Oh..sorry Carter.. Hi."

"How are you getting along with the people here?"

"I find everyone very welcoming."

Claire went back to Cliff's side. "Carter, kids, we're sorry but we have to go now, we still have to meet the ladies. Would you know where they usually go?"

"They are usually at Rose Square."

"Alright. Thanks Carter! See you around! 'Til next time kids!"

"Thank you Carter," said Cliff.

Carter knew Cliff was thanking him not just because of the whereabout of the ladies. He nodded at him and smiled.

They all waved at one another as Cliff and Claire walked to the square.

At Rose Square, Cliff and Claire met Ana, Sasha and Manna.

Mayor Thomas was also there and greeted them. "Well if it weren't Cliff and Claire. Hello young man and young lady. Out for a walk?"

"Hello Mayor. Claire and I are touring town."

"Have you met everyone yet?"

"I think we did. Cliff had met some of the townspeople earlier."

"Way to go Cliff! You're developing courage to speak to people. Great job son. Soon you can tell how you feel to.."

Cliff lightly shook his face and showed a worried look to Mayor Thomas that Claire wouldn't notice.

"..to..to..everyone. Of course, once you get close to the people around, you can feel comfortable to share your sentiments with them. Yes."

The ladies at the square smiled as they looked at Cliff and Claire. But they didn't say anything to let whatever they think is happening unfold as it is.

Later, Claire and Cliff bade goodbye to the elders at the square.

It's still early and Claire had one more place in mind so he held Cliff's hand and pulled it as they walked towards the south exit of the town. Streaks of red flashed on Cliff's cheeks when Claire grabbed him but she did not notice it as she was busy dragging him.

oOo

Cliff and Claire reached the top of Mother's Hill.

"Sorry to drag you this far."

Cliff was looking at the ground and panting, but responded to Claire kindly, "It's alright. Where are.." He slowly rose "we?.. Woah.."

Claire giggled. "Isn't it wonderful?"

"Yeah. It's amazing."

"As far as your eyes can see, it's mine!...Just kidding."

Cliff chuckled. "That place over there..it's Forget-Me-Not Valley isn't it?"

"Uhuh!"

The two sat on the ground.

Claire was admiring the view of the valley being painted orange by the setting sun. Cliff was actually gathering courage to talk to her. "Claire, I…"

"Cliff, remember when you saw me at the beach yesterday?"

"Huh? Uh..yeah..uhm.. Would you like to talk about it?"

"I..I don't know if you will believe me..I.."

Then Cliff held her hand, silently telling her that he was ready to listen and wouldn't judge her.

"Okay.. well.. there are many things..er..actually people..I've always been thinking about, my grandfather passed due to complications brought by old age, and then I also lost my parents in a car accident. I know they're in a wonderful place now but I can't help but miss them." Claire sobbed.

She continued. "All I have now is my brother who's at the city because he's still finishing his studies. I also worry about him."

"Don't worry Claire. He will be fine. You'll see him soon. At least right now, you can phone him at the inn to regularly check on him."

"You're right."

"And it's alright to miss your departed loved ones. I'll find you odd if you don't."

Claire giggled a bit to that.

Cliff continued. "They have been very special part of your memory."

For a while, they were both silent until Claire spoke again.

"And there's one more thing, speaking of memory, Cliff."

Cliff flinched but he didn't say a word to let Claire continue.

"I have my family in my memory. But there's a part of my memory I don't have. I don't.. remember anything about how I traveled and came here. Mayor Thomas told me the ship I rode had been involved in a mishap. But I just can't recall a single thing from my experience there."

Claire covered her face with one hand as her other hand was holding by Cliff's. "No matter how hard I tried to recall, I couldn't, and sometimes, my head gets hurt when I try to do so," she said crying.

Cliff tightened his hold of Claire's hand. He removed her hand covering her face and wiped the tears dropping from her eyes. He cupped her cheek. He was smiling.

"Don't pressure yourself too much about it. You'll remember everything soon. But I think it will be gradual, probably."

Claire closed her eyes, held the hand on her cheek and smiled.

Then Claire leaned on Cliff's shoulder. Cliff was shocked and he blushed, but then smiled and put his arm around her.

Claire felt relieved in Cliff's presence.

Cliff, for his part, was worried about Claire's struggle to remember. But, he was glad to be there for her. He rested his chin on her head.

When it was getting dark, he offered to walk Claire home.

At her doorstep, Claire faced Cliff, "Thank you so much Cliff. I had a great time."

"No Claire, it's me who's supposed to thank you. Thank you for helping me get to know the town and the people. It was wonderful."

Claire smiled at him.

"I better go Claire. You have to rest. You must be very tired."

"No I'm not…hihi..you..you must be tired."

"Uh..no.." Cliff said, rolling his eyes.

Then they both laughed.

"Alright. You go now, it's still a long walk for you."

"Thanks again Claire. Goodnight."

"Good night Cliff."

oOo

When Cliff arrived at the inn, Ann greeted him.

"Hi Cliff! You weren't at church today. Where have you been all day?"

"Hello Ann! Claire showed me around town. You were looking for me at the church? Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Oh. Okay. Uhm, everything's fine." Ann appreciated that Claire helped Cliff get to know the town, but she felt bad about the thought of Cliff being with another girl.

Cliff proceeded to the boys' room at the second floor and Gray welcomed him.

"What's up man? You got a whole day for a date? Hehe."

"Cut it out Gray. Claire just showed me around town. It's not a date. I don't even know if I will ever ask her on one. I'm going to run out of funds soon."

"Don't worry pal. You'll find a job. You've just started to get acquainted with the people in town. Like I told you, sooner or later there will be a job there that's gonna need you." Then Gray noticed the time. "Oh come on! Let's have dinner downstairs. I'm starving."

oOo

One morning, Claire decided to purchase a sheep. As she talked to Barley, the old man mentioned of an upcoming town event.

"Claire, at the first day of summer will be Beach Day. You and your dog can join a frisbee competition. It will be fun." 

"Hmmm, it will be our first time to join. Well.. okay. We still got time to practice. Thanks for informing me Barley."

"You're welcome. By the way, what name will you give your sheep?"

"Oh.. yes.. uhm.. I'll call him Schubert!"

"Alright! I'll just walk Schubert to your barn in a while."

"Okay. Thank you so much Barley!"

oOo

Through the rest of the season, Claire and Beethoven practiced.

oOo

On the morning of the last day of Spring, Zack came to Claire's house.

"Good morning Claire!"

"Good morning Zack!"

"I'm here to inform you about Beach Day which will be tomorrow. Will you and your dog join the frisbee competition?

"You bet it Zack! We'll join."

"Alright then. Come tomorrow morning at eight. I will take your dog for now so you can prepare yourself. Don't worry. I'll take care of him. He'll be with other contestant dogs."

"Okay." Claire whistled and Beethoven approached her. She knelt and patted his head. "Hey buddy! Tomorrow's the contest! You're gonna have to go with Zack for now. I'll see you tomorrow."

Beethoven barked.

Zack exited the farm with Beethoven without fuss.


	9. Chapter 9: Beach Day

**Chapter 9: Beach Day**

Alarm sounded at six in the morning.

'First day of summer!' Claire thought as she opened her eyes. 'Beach Day! I better get up and work so I can go to the beach afterwards. I miss Beethoven already.' She immediately got up and prepared herself.

When she opened her door, a tan boy with purple scarf on his head greeted her.

"Good morning! My name is Kai. I came here last night. I heard you're the new girl running this farm."

"Hi. I'm Claire. It's nice to meet you."

They shook hands.

"I come here every summer to run the snack shack at the beach. You know, the white cottage."

"Oh, the one beside Zack and Won's cottage! So that's your place."

"Kind of. I just stay there during the day. But I spend my nights at the inn."

"Oh I see. Okay."

"Today's Beach Day! Are you gonna be in the competition?"

"Yeah."

"Well, good luck. You girls can have my place as your dressing quarters for the day."

"Alright. I'll go there once I'm finished with farm work."

"Okay. See you at the beach later then. I'll go now."

"See you later Kai."

When Kai left, Claire decided to plant seeds of tomato and corn, then watered them.

Then she took care of the feeds of her animals.

When everything in her farm was attended, she thought, she was ready to head to the beach join the Beach Day fun.

oOo

When Claire came to the beach, she went to Zack and Won's cottage to see Beethoven.

"Good morning Claire! You're early." Zack greeted her.

"Good morning Zack! I miss this little guy already," she said, while petting Beethoven, "so I thought of coming now."

"Good luck on the competition later. I'll leave you for a while. I have to make final preparations on the place. By the way, you can also prepare yourself at Kai's shack. It's open."

"Thanks Zack. I'll go there then."

Claire went to the Snack Shack with her stuff. A few minutes later, the other town girls arrived.

"Claire!" Karen said as she opened the shack door. "You're here already! Good morning!"

"Good morning Karen!"

Claire and Karen hugged.

Popuri, Ann, Mary and Elli followed inside. They all exchanged good mornings and hugs with Claire.

The girls were preparing in the shack when the boys arrived. The boys stayed beside the staircase. They all took off their shirts leaving them with their board shorts on.

After a few moments, the shack door unlocked and opened. Karen in pink bikini stepped out first. She spotted Rick at the boys' group and rushed to him.

Ann, who was wearing an orange pair of bikini went out next and walked to Cliff who didn't notice her immediately as he was waiting for someone come out of the shack.

Mary and Elli went out together. They were both a bit shy to walk out in their swimwears picked by Karen from the tv shopping.

When Karen saw them, she clapped and made little jumps, feeling proud of herself. She put her arms around the shoulders of Gray and Doctor Trent. "I picked those for them. Aren't they gorgeous, huh?" The two boys just awkwardly nodded and smiled at her.

Popuri was standing at the door looking inside at Claire. "Aren't you going to come out?"

"I'll follow. I just have to fix my stuff." Claire said with a smile.

Popuri smiled back. "Okay, good luck later! I'll go now."

Kai assisted the girl with the pink hair wearing red beachwear in descending the shack's stairs.

A few moments later, Claire stepped out of the shack. She was clad in dark blue halter, high neck bikini top, paired with the same color of mini shorts.

Everyone greeted her. Cliff was the last to see her, if it wasn't for Gray who had to elbow him because he was looking at the beach.

Claire went down the stairs.

Cliff was about to go to her when Ann jumped in front of him from like out of nowhere.

"Cliff! What are you going to do here today? Are you going to surf or play volleyball.."

Ann was talking but Cliff's attention was focused on Claire who was checking out her Beethoven and her frisbee.

"…and there will be a bonfire tonight too." Ann finished.

"Uh..yeah..okay..uhm Ann, sorry I just have to talk to.." Cliff's neck was growing long and he was looking out for Claire.

Claire got called by Zack for the competition so she left her spot and went to Beethoven.

oOo

Zack hosted the event. "Here were are with our third and last duo to compete, Claire and her dog Beethoven. Claire, please walk with Beethoven to the designated area."

Claire and Beethoven did just that. At Zack's signal, Claire and Beethoven ran together. She stopped for a while at the marked spot to throw the frisbee.

Beethoven continued running swiftly and leaped to catch the flying frisbee with his mouth. Then she followed Beethoven to catch him before he gets a bad fall. She ran ahead of him and opened her arms.

Claire successfully caught Beethoven who was biting the frisbee. But they fell to the sand.

Cliff who was watching wanted to rush to her. But Gray touched his back and murmured, "She's okay man, don't worry."

"Great job buddy!" Claire removed the frisbee from Beethoven's mouth and stroke his back. Beethoven licked her and she giggled.

Cliff was relieved at the scene.

Later, it was time for the announcement of the winners.

Zack announced the second placer duo and Claire and Beethoven's names were still not called. Claire already hugged Beethoven because the results were obvious.

"Yes yes. We have a new champion pair this summer! Claire and Beethoven! Congratulations!" said Zack.

After Claire was handed her trophy, everyone gathered around her to congratulate her. Cliff couldn't get in the group.

Then Zack announced, "Later, we'll have the boodle fight lunch, but while waiting for the food, why don't you kids have fun at the water while we prepare? After all, you'll be on your own at the bonfire tonight."

May and Stu pulled Claire to play with them.

Doug, Anna, Manna, Lillia and Sasha went to Zack and Won's cottage to get the food for the lunch. Duke and Basil took charge of the drinks.

Zack and Gotz prepared the long tables.

Karen was lying in a lounge chair with her shades on.

The other girls and boys are in the water. The girls were swimming at a shallow part but the boys were having their own swimming, diving and under water breathing contests at a deeper portion.

Claire was building a sand castle with May and Stu.

Ellen was enjoying the scene of the townspeople enjoying summer while seated. Carter and Saibara have kept her company.

Later, Anna called out to tell everyone that lunch was ready.

The people started to flock to the long table. It was only then when Cliff finally got the chance to talk to Claire.

"Claire.."

Claire, who was stroking Beethoven's head, turned. "Hi Cliff!"

They were both looking at each other's well-formed figures and both had streaks of red on their faces.

"Uh.. congratulations for winning the frisbee competition."

"Oh..yeah..thanks.."

"Uhm..uh..are you okay? You fell when you caught Beethoven."

"Oh that? I'm fine. Just a little back ache. But not too painful." She said smiling.

Cliff waited for Claire to fix her stuff and set Beethoven at the cottage with other dogs for a while. They walked together to the lunch table and joined the townspeople for lunch.

They would have been beside each other at the table but others got in between them and surrounded Claire as they lauded her for winning the frisbee competition.

May asked some advice from Claire about training their dog Hana.

Claire was also interviewed about life at the farm and in town.

Cliff, for his part, found company with the boys, but received a lot of attention from Ann who assisted him in some of the pieces of food to get from the table, including the ones she cooked.

Everyone enjoyed the boodle fight.

There was this one time where Ann choked while eating.

Cliff, who was talking to Gray and Kai, noticed her and patted her back and gave her water. This made her appreciate Cliff's being a gentleman who expressed concern for her. She shyly thanked him.

oOo

The activity a little after lunchtime was volleyball, starting with the boys' game, officiated by Karen and scored by Mary. (The games were, however, not legit because there were only two who played for each team.)

During the boys' game, Gray suddenly felt pain his arm making him accidently hit the ball to Claire's direction.

Cliff, who was seated beside Claire was quick to block the ball to prevent it from hitting Claire.

Then Kai called for a time-out to check on Claire and Cliff.

"Guys, I'm so sorry.." Gray said as he walked toward Claire and Cliff.

"No..it's fine Gray. I know you didn't mean to that. But it's you who got hurt," Claire said worriedly.

"Just muscle pain. I can manage this." Gray said with a smile. Then, she saw Mary, who dropped the scoring board and was already standing by his side.

"Gray…you're hurt. You should get treated." She said, gently touching his arm.

"Mary! You..you're here!" Gray was shocked at finding Mary standing beside him. " I-I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"No. Let's go to Kai's cottage and I'll get you some warm compress treatment." Mary insisted.

"Go Gray, it's alright. You should follow Mary." Doctor Trent intervened.

"Okay okay. You're starting to build a team 'get Gray treated.' Okay okay. I'll go."

Then Rick raised his concern. "You should have a substitute then. Cliff! You seem to have knowledge of the game. Will you play with us please?"

"Huh? Me?" Cliff glanced at Claire.

Claire smiled at him. "Go.. It'll be fun. But please be careful," she uttered kindly.

So Cliff played in place of Gray. And the result? His team composed of him, and Doctor Trent won over Rick and Kai.

When the game was over, Claire was about to approach Cliff to congratulate him but Ann hurried to him first. Claire did not mind and decided to congratulate Doctor Trent for their win, and also Rick and Kai for a well-played game.

Then, Karen blew her whistle. "It's the girls' time to play!"

Cliff and Claire were looking at each other. But Cliff was pulled by the boys to the direction shack for a drink. On the other hand, since Claire had a mild back ache from the frisbee competition, she was asked by Karen to be in her place as referee as she would be playing as a teammate of Ann. But Karen made a little, but not so serious rant. "Ooooh those boys! After we officiated for them, they left already?!"

Popuri giggled. "It's alright Karen. There's more of us girls compared to them."

It was also a fun game for the girls. Elli and Popuri won though they couldn't believe themselves. All girls congratulated and hugged each other after the game.

"Come on, let's go back to the shack and prepare for the bonfire!" Karen told the girls' group.

At the shack, the girls freshened up and put on their robes.

oOo

The youth of Mineral Town prepared for the bonfire.

Rick and Kai prepared the food at the beach shack kitchen with Ann and Popuri.

Karen, Elli and Claire spread the mats on the sand.

Cliff, Kai and Doctor Trent positioned the pieces of wood at the center of the mat arrangement.

oOo

When the sun set, everyone took his and her spot in the laid mats.

Popuri, Elli and Mary sat together.

Karen was with Rick.

Doctor Trent sat with Kai.

Ann sat beside Cliff.

Gray was sitting alone, holding a guitar. He asked the group for a song.

Just then, Claire arrived at the group after she checked on Beethoven.

"Wait wait. Let's hear from Claire. We haven't heard her sing yet," Karen suggested.

"What? Me?" Claire was surprised with Karen volunteering her.

"Please Claire.." The girls were in chorus.

"Oh yeah! Go Claire." The boys also cheered for her.

"Uhm..okay..but what should I sing?"

"Whatever you like Claire." Gray said.

"Oohh.. I don't know. Any mellow beat you know Gray?"

"Okay okay." And Gray started to strum.

Claire began to sing.

 _Looking in your eyes I see a paradise_

 _This world that I found is too good to be true_

 _Standing here beside you_

 _Want so much to give you_

 _This love that I found that I'm feeling for you.._

Everyone was silently listening to her and later joined her in the final chorus.

When the song ended, everyone applauded.

"That was lovely Claire," said Elli.

"Thank you," Claire shyly said.

The town's youth spent the bonfire night enjoying food and exchanging stories.

Later on, Rick suggested to call it a day, reminding everyone that the elders were surely waiting for them in their homes.

They all stood. Some rolled up the mats and carried them back to the shack. Others cleaned up the food mess and put out the fire.

When everything was settled at the beach, they all went to the shack to fix their belongings.

Claire was attending to her stuff and Beethoven when discreetly sneezed.

Cliff heard her. But he looked at Gray, as if telling in his mind "What do I do?" Ann was in hold of his arm.

"Hey Ann!" Gray called. "I remember your Dad is expecting you to help him on something tonight."

"Oh..yes..I almost forgot." She hesitantly let go of Cliff. "Alright. I'll go ahead. Bye Cliff. Bye Claire." She didn't like how she felt but she wasn't really okay with leaving Cliff and Claire on their own. Still, she left with Gray.

Gray showed a thumb up at his back so that Cliff would notice. Cliff nodded to thank him.

"We'll go home Beethoven. I'll give you a warm bath. You need to be pampered after the competition." Claire was stroking Beethoven's head.

"Claire?"

Claire turned and was shocked to see Cliff behind her. "Oh hey.. why are you still here? It's getting late."

"I heard you..sneeze earlier.. Uh..are you not feeling well? I'll walk you home."

"I'm fine Cliff. You should go back to the inn. I'll walk with Beethoven," she said smiling.

"Nope." Cliff said as he leaned close to her face. Claire blushed. He also immediately pulled away and turned in embarrassment. But he continued, "Uh..please.. just.. let me accompany you."

Claire smiled, stood up and slipped her hand into his.

Cliff froze. He turned his head and found Claire's smiling face.

"Alright. Let's go. I still have to clean Beethoven up."

He smiled and tightened his grip on her hand.

oOo

Cliff and Claire were both silent as they walked hand in hand. Neither could speak, probably both immersed at the feeling of each other's hand. Soon, one decided to start a conversation.

"Ah..are you sure you're alright?" Cliff asked.

"Yes. I feel perfectly fine. Probably it's just that I've been dressed like this so I felt a little cold." She was referring to her swimming outfit covered only by a robe. "Hey, how about you? Did you have fun?"

"Of course. I got to mingle with the people in town…. Uh..hey..you sang wonderfully back there."

"You're kidding me."

"No really. You did great."

"I was kind of nervous earlier. But everyone was rooting for me so I couldn't refuse. Thankfully, they liked what I did."

oOo

When they reached Claire's house, they let go of each other's hands. They both made little awkward laughs as they turned red.

"Thanks for walking with me, Cliff. I really appreciate it." Claire said as she stood by her door.

"No problem. I'll be heading out now. Lock your door alright?"

"Aye aye sir!" Claire gave Cliff a salute and they both laughed.

"Goodnight Cliff."

"Goodnight Claire."

oOo

As she promised, Claire gave Beethoven a warm bath.

Afterwards, she watched tv and stumbled on the news channel.

"The fireworks festival is going to be on the 24th of the season. It's a perfect time to spend with someone special."

As she laid on her bed, the reporter's words just kept repeating in her mind.

 _Someone special._

And there's just one boy with brown eyes whose hair is ponytailed that appears in her vision.

* * *

For those who do not know, the lines Claire sang at the bonfire were part of the song "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship. :)


	10. Chapter 10: Making Conclusions

**Chapter 10: Making Conclusions**

"Dude! I'd like to ask you a favor." Gray was talking to Cliff at their room.

"Sure. What is it?"

"My grandpa needs a basketful of ores to be turned into different materials for shipment. I thought I needed help in finding ores and in carrying stuff because when this basket gets filled, I won't be able to carry the tools along. I couldn't ask Claire because she told me she had a backache at Beach Day and that means she couldn't carry a very heavy load of ore in that condition."

Cliff looked a little confused upon hearing that Gray would have asked Claire to help him.

"Hey I didn't intend to burden her. I just thought she would also like to do mining works every once in a while. Of course I wouldn't let her carry heavy loads even if she's alright."

"Okay. I'll help you out."

"Great! Thanks!"

The two later went to the spring mine to find ores.

oOo

After about an hour and a half of mining in three floors, Gray thought that they found enough so they decided to leave the mine.

They were already near Gotz's house when Gray realized he forgot one of his tools on a corner of the mine.

"I have to go back to get them," said Gray.

"No, I'll get them. You just go to your grandpa so you he can start looking at the ores," Cliff said kindly.

"Alright. I owe you pal." And Gray went his way to Saibara's.

Cliff walked back to the mine. He looked for Gray's tool at the first level but did not find it there. Then he went to the second level. Still not there. He looked at the last level where they have been and there it was. Gray's hoe was at the northwest corner of the level. Cliff picked it and went back up and out of the mine.

When he was outside. He felt exhausted. He decided to walk towards the side of the spring to rest for a while.

He put down his bag of tools then stretched his hands. Then he leaned at the bamboo fence surrounding the spring.

Unknown to him, the fence was actually unstable because it was put there for quite a long time that its base had been weakened by ground moisture.

As he leaned, the fence went down in a domino effect.

To his surprise, Claire was actually taking a bath in the spring.

When the fence was completely toppled, they found themselves looking at each other.

"Eeeeek!" Claire closed her eyes, covered her upper body, lowered herself in the water and turned around.

Cliff immediately turned around as well. "I..I…I'm sorry. I..I didn't mean to..." Then he walked to exit the spring area. But then…

"No Cliff. Don't leave."

Cliff was shocked. But he stepped backwards, back to the side of the spring. He didn't turn his head.

He sat there and so they were sitting like back to back only separated by the rocks that make up the border of the spring. Their faces were both very ripe tomatoes.

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"Uh.. I helped Gray look for ores. We were on our way to Saibara earlier but he forgot his hoe so I went back to retrieve it."

"Oh. So did you find it?"

"Yeah. It's here in the tools bag now….Uhm..how are you? How's your back?"

"I'm feeling better now. I read in the library that the warmth of this spring will help ease body pain so I tried it."

"That's good to know.."

"Uh.. you wait here. Don't turn your head okay?"

"I'll cover my eyes if you like too." And Cliff did just that, making Claire giggle.

Claire stood up and went back to the dressing room to get dressed.

After getting dressed, she silently walked to Cliff who was still sitting on the ground covering his eyes.

"You can open your eyes now," Claire whispered to his ear.

He was shocked but nonetheless put down his hands and opened his eyes. He turned and their eyes met.

Claire was kindly smiling at him. "Come on, let's walk together back to town. I have things to do."

"Uh..yeah. But I couldn't go with you. I have to get back to the inn and wash myself. I smell like earth."

Claire giggled. "No worries."

The two walked to town together. Cliff brought back Gray's tools at Saibara's and left Claire there as he headed back to the inn.

oOo

Claire chatted with Saibara about the stuff he's working on.

Then, Gray asked her to come with him to Rose Square.

At the square, they met Ann who was checking out bulletin posts.

"Hi Ann!" Claire greeted.

"Oh hello Claire! Hello Gray!"

"Is there anything new posted today?" Claire asked.

"Yes. It's about Fireworks Festival. You can ask someone you like to spend it with you. Do you know about that Gray?"

"Well, yes. That's why we're here. I'll be talking to Claire about it." To this, Ann assessed that Gray would be asking Claire to join him in the Fireworks Festival. She thought of an ill plan.

"Will you also join us?" Gray continued.

"Uh..I'm sorry.. I'll actually be going back now. I might be needed at the inn. See you."

oOo

Ann left to go to Cliff.

At the inn, she found him talking to Kai.

"Hello boys! What are we up to?"

"Hi Ann. We were just talking about the festival."

"Oh I see. I won't join in then. But if it could help, I saw Gray with Claire. He said he was about to talk about the festival with her. I think he's gonna ask her to go with him. That's all. I'll leave you now." Then she went to the family room.

Kai whispered to Cliff, "Gray's going to ask Claire? Is that possible? I thought he and Mary are.."

"Yes that's a bit odd. But will you excuse me for a while? I have to.."

Kai held Cliff's shoulder. "Dude, I know Gray wouldn't do that to you."

Cliff left without saying a word.

oOo

"So..are you going to invite Mary to the festival?" Claire asked Gray as she grinned and flickered her eyes.

"Huh? How did you know about that?"

"Oh Gray, I see how you behave when Mary is around. It's so obvious you like her. Hihi!"

"Alright alright. I was planning to tell you anyway. Now, uh..will you listen to what I prepared to ask Mary for the festival? I'm kind of nervous about how I should ask her," Gray told Claire.

"Seriously, Gray?" Claire laughed at him.

Gray turned red of embarrassment. "Oh come on, just tell me whether it's okay or not will you?"

"Okay okay, let's hear it."

"Okay.. ahem.. Uhm.. Mary, uh.."

"Hihi..you're stuttering. You're not talking to Mary yet. Relax dude."

"Okay.." Gray inhaled…exhaled.. "Okay let's try again… Hi Mary. The Fireworks Festival's in a week from today. I was wondering if you'd like to go with me?"

"Hmmm.. I have no scheduled task for that day…soo.. Sure I'll go with you!"

"Great! I'll pick you up at your home at seven?"

"Fine by me."

oOo

" _..The Fireworks Festival's in a week from today. I was wondering if you'd like to go with me?"_

" _Hmmm.. I have no scheduled task for that say..soo.. Sure I'll go with you!"_

" _Great! I'll pick you up at your home at seven?"_

" _Fine by me."_

This was the conversation Cliff heard when he reached the north entrance of the Rose Square. He didn't actually enter the square but hid behind a bush.

After hearing Claire "accept" Gray's invitation, Cliff hurriedly walked back to the inn feeling bad.

On his way, thought he couldn't feel angry towards Gray, nor with Claire. Never with Claire. He rather felt remorse about himself because he thought he was bad at talking to people and he still hasn't found a job.

He recalled that Claire met Gray before she met him at the church and they seem to have close ties so it's not impossible they would get attracted to each other.

oOo

After "accepting" Gray's invitation, Claire clapped. "That was wonderful Gray! I'm sure Mary wouldn't say no to you."

"You think so? I'm still not sure. Of course it would still be different once I get to talk to her for real."

"I know so Gray. Just be yourself."

"Thanks Claire. Wait, speaking of the festival, has anyone invited you yet?"

"Actually, no one has asked me yet."

"Is that so? Hmm.. Maybe you just have to wait. Someone out there might also be rehearsing what he should say to you right now."

"If that's the case, we'll see. But it's okay if I don't get invited. I could go there by myself anyway."

"Don't think like that." Gray resolved not to hint Claire about Cliff as he wanted Cliff to move on his own. "Anyways, Claire, thanks again for your time. Good luck with everything."

"You're welcome Gray."

oOo

Cliff came back to the inn and Kai was there, waiting for him.

"What happened?" Kai asked.

"Ann was right. Gray did ask Claire to go with him to the festival…"

"And?"

"And she accepted his invitation."

"Woah woah woah.. That's totally impossible. There must be a good explanation to that. You must have not yet heard their whole conversation."

"I'm not sure Kai. But I don't really feel good right now. Excuse me. I have to go upstairs."

Cliff did go upstairs.

Ann followed him. Kai noticed she was moving sneakily and wondered what's with the weird movements. He suspected something was not right.

Upstairs, Ann found Cliff standing at the hallway, looking at the window.

"Hi Cliff! What are you staring at outside?"

"Oh, hello Ann. Well.. I'm just looking at the view."

Just then, they saw Zack pass by. He was carrying fireworks.

"The Fireworks Festival's going to be in a few days from now," said Ann. "It's fun to spend with a friend or someone special."

"Uh..yeah.."

"I wonder if I could spend it with someone."

"Huh? Haven't you been asked by anyone yet?"

"Well not yet..everyone's still probably busy..maybe sooner or later I'll get an invitation."

"Uhm.. would you like to go with me at the festival?"

"Oh..wait..you..you're inviting me?"

"Well..if you would like to come with me..we could.."

"Sure..sure! I'll go with you!" Ann jumped and hugged Cliff.

Cliff had a blank reaction though.

"It's gonna be exciting! We'll go there after dinner, will that be okay?"

"Huh? Uh.. yeah..sure…"

Kai was actually eavesdropping them from near the stairs and heard everything clearly. 'So that's the explanation,' he thought. He left his spot when he heard Ann come down.

oOo

Cliff lied on his bed early.

Kai decided to tell him what he think he is going on.

"Dude, I think Ann made this all up so you could go with her to the festival."

"Huh? What are you talking about, Kai? That's impossible. I clearly heard what Gray and Claire talked about in the square. Ann was right."

"What if you haven't actually heard everything? Look dude, Ann likes you. It's not impossible for her to lie to you. You shouldn't go with her, dude."

"Ann is a good person, Kai..and..and I cannot back out..I already invited her."

"But what about Claire?"

"I'm sure she's going to have a great time with Gray."

"I don't know, Cliff. I can't force you to believe me. But I'm telling this to you to make you aware, so would know what to do if things won't go well."

"Thank you Kai. If you'd excuse me, I need to rest now. I don't really feel good."

Kai looked at him worriedly.

Gray arrived late, unaware of Cliff's problem.

oOo

The 24th day of summer came. Fireworks festival day.

Claire has not been invited to the event, nor has she received even just a letter from an anonymous someone.

She has been thinking about this when she got home after doing farm work.

Lying on her bed, she thought, honestly, she was a little hopeful that that one brown-eyed, brown-haired boy with ponytail would actually invite her to the festival. But maybe he already invited someone else.

She tried to convince herself not to feel bad because if he was able to invite someone, that means at least he's gaining more courage to talk to people.

But there's this part of her that was just sad, hoping that he would knock on her door even on the last minute.

oOo

It was 7:30 p.m. Gray and Mary arrived together at the beach to watch the fireworks.

As they walked towards the dock, they spotted Cliff who was already at the shore.

"Cliff!" Gray called.

Cliff turned around when he heard his name called and his eyes widened when he saw Mary with Gray.

Gray continued, "What's up dude? Mary here is my date tonight. She accepted my invitation a couple of days ago…So where's your date? Where's Cl.."

"Cliff! I brought you something to drink!" Ann just came to Cliff's side. "Oh hi, Gray and Mary." Gray was shocked upon seeing Ann.

'What?! Ann? For real? Where's Claire?' Gray mouthed to Cliff, fortunately unnoticed by Ann who was chatting with Mary.

Cliff could only open his mouth but without saying a word nor making any sound.

At 8 p.m., Mayor Thomas announced that the fireworks display was about to begin. Gray invited Mary to watch from the dock. They left Cliff and Ann at the shore.

As the fireworks go, Cliff only stared at the water splashing on the shore and berated himself in his mind for hastily making a wrong conclusion about what he heard from the square before.

He briefly looked at Ann who was happily watching the show. He thought he couldn't leave her now, or else, she'll feel bad. But all the while, he could only worry about the girl with blonde hair and blue eyes who did not deserve to be alone that night.

The fireworks display lasted for 10 minutes.

oOo

Claire wanted to watch the fireworks display at the beach. But she thought she would feel…funny… that she would go there alone when there would be many couples there. She didn't like to feel awkward.

She had another idea instead. She looked at her clock. 7:30 p.m. There's still time.

"Come on Beethoven, let's watch the fireworks from another good spot!"

"Woof!"

She lit her lamp and walked with Beethoven to Mother's Hill.

They reached the summit in time. The towns and cities from afar have just started showing their fireworks displays.

Claire sat on the ground beside Beethoven. She wrapped her legs with her arms as she watched the colors burst in the night sky.

Later, Beethoven moved his head sniffing.

"What's the matter buddy?"

Beethoven turned and sniffed on the ground.

He stopped at the bush that was a few meters away from the summit and barked.

Claire rushed to Beethoven in worry.

She noticed the bush stirred.


	11. Chapter 11: Good Friends

**Chapter 11: Good Friends**

The fireworks display of Mineral Town lasted for 10 minutes.

Afterwards, Mayor Thomas called the attendees for some food and drinks.

Ann pulled Cliff to the table. She helped in serving the food. Of course, she asked Cliff first. "Cliff would you like to have some sandwich and juice?"

"Thank you Ann but no. I'm fine. I'm sorry I have to go."

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Just somewhere."

Cliff hastily left. Ann pouted. She knew what Cliff was up to.

Near the stairs, Cliff passed by Gray.

"Cliff! Where are you going?" Gray murmured to Cliff.

"I'm going to correct my mistakes." Cliff whispered in response.

Gray patted his back. "Good luck dude."

"Gray I still owe a talk with you."

"It can wait. But you hurry now, go to her."

"Thanks."

oOo

Beethoven approached the bush and the moving figure showed up. He was looking down with guilt and regret on his face.

"Cliff!" Claire softly said, then ran and jumped to hug him.

"Claire, I'm sor.."

She covered his mouth with her hands. "Hmp. Don't talk. Come on. It's still on," she kindly said, then pulled him to the summit of the hill.

As they walked, he looked at their hands holding each other. He was still feeling guilty and embarrassed.

At the summit, they sat together with Beethoven.

Claire's eyes were sparkling as they reflected the bright colors bursting at the sky. "Isn't it a wonderful view from here?"

"Uh.. yeah." Cliff was surprised to see Claire genuinely happy.

Soon all the booming finished, and the only sounds they could hear were those from crickets.

Claire was stroking Beethoven. Right then and there, Cliff took his chance to speak.

"Claire, I'm so sorry. I'm such a moron. I made baseless assumptions."

"Huh? Of what?"

"A few days ago, Ann mentioned she saw you and Gray at the square and that he would invite you for the festival. You didn't know it but I went there and hid. I heard he invited you and that you accepted it…so I..invited Ann to go with me."

Claire smiled a little. "Ann and you must have misunderstood us. We did talk about the festival that day. But.. what you don't know is that it was all about Gray's plan to invite Mary. What you heard must be when he was practicing his approach to her." She giggled.

"Kai was right then. I didn't catch everything you talked about and hastily made my conclusion. I'm so sorry Claire."

"Don't be, Cliff. You still came…although you were quite late." Claire chuckled. "Don't feel like you owe to invite me for this festival. You can invite anyone."

"No Claire, I should have invited you at the first place."

"But why?"

"That's because you..I..I.."

Claire curiously looked at him in the eyes. Soon, their faces drew close to each other.

Cliff suddenly blinked his eyes rapidly and turned his head.

"I…I…got to take you home now. Well…to your home that is. The night is getting deeper," Cliff said.

Claire looked away from him. "Oh.. yeah..okay." She turned to Beethoven. "Hey buddy..time to go home."

oOo

At her doorstep, Claire once again gave Cliff a hug and told him, "Thank you for spending the night with me, Cliff."

When Claire released him, Cliff said, "No. It's I who has to thank you. Thank you Claire for letting me spend the night with you." He lifted her hands and kissed her knuckles.

Claire blushed.

"And I really am sorry for the trouble I caused."

But Claire reached Cliff's cheeks, making him blush as well. "It doesn't matter now. I still had a wonderful night with you."

oOo

Cliff came back to the inn before Ann and the others arrived.

When Ann stepped in, he immediately approached her. "I'm sorry I left earlier..I..I wasn't feeling well."

"Oh." Ann made a straight face, but played it through. She touched Cliff's forehead and stroke his back. "Is there anything you need? Medicine? Warm food maybe?"

"I'm fine. I just had to take a rest."

Then Cliff excused himself to go upstairs.

oOo

"Whaaat?! You still didn't tell her?" Gray and Kai were in a soft chorus since it was already late night. They asked Cliff if he already confessed his feelings to Claire.

"Seriously? Should I really tell that right away? I just said sorry about what I did. I couldn't confess to her immediately after that. And besides, I still have an unfinished business.."

"Unfinished business?" Gray and Kai asked together.

"With you two… I'm sorry I doubted you."

Gray held Cliff's right shoulder. "You didn't doubt us dude, you were just confused."

Kai was on his left. "Yeah, and misinformed. If I were in your place, I think I would have reacted the same."

"Me too. If the person who informed me was someone I trusted and then I would catch just that part of the conversation at the square, I would feel messed up too," Gray said.

"But seriously dude, you should be careful of believing in Ann," said Kai.

"Let's not think that way about Ann, guys. Just like Claire said, maybe she just misunderstood you Gray when she saw you with Claire," Cliff said.

"I hope that's the case man," Gray said.

"Alright. There's no bad blood among us. Before I forget, Gray! Congratulations! So Mary accepted your invitation!" said Kai.

"Yeah, congratulations Gray," said Cliff.

"Thank you guys."

"I'm also happy tonight. I got to spend the night with Popuri," said Kai. "Cliff, you must still be happy."

"Uh..actually, I am." The image of Claire with eyes sparkling as they reflected the fireworks flashed in his mind.

"Hoooaahh!" Kai yawned. "I'm exhausted. Let's get some rest."

Gray and Cliff laughed and agreed.

As he lied on his bed, Cliff replayed the festival moments he spent with Claire. He was really happy that Claire was happy. He wanted to do something special to make up for her. But then he realized that he was running out of funds, by the way, and still couldn't find a job.

oOo

A couple of days later, Claire went to the poultry to buy medicine for her chickens.

After her purchase, Popuri called her.

"Claire, I'd like to have a little chat with you if you're not busy."

"Sure. What would you like to talk about?"

"It's about the festival."

Popuri invited Claire to their living room.

"Most of us were really surprised that Cliff spent the fireworks show with Ann instead of with you. Then yesterday, Kai shared to me what he thinks is the explanation to that. So now, I'm here to share it to you."

"Gray and I were misunderstood by Cliff and Ann. I think that that's enough explanation."

"No Claire. You have to know something. Ann likes Cliff. Actually, she shared to us girls her interest on him even in his early days here at the town. I agree with Kai that Ann must have intentionally made Cliff believe that Gray actually invited you for the festival so Cliff would invite her instead."

"Maybe you're mistaken Popuri. If I remember it correctly, Gray wasn't actually able to explain that time to her that he would ask me to rehearse his invitation to Mary. Even I didn't have an idea until Ann left."

"You're like Cliff, Claire." Popuri chuckled.

Streaks of red appeared on Claire's cheeks. "Huh..uh..why?"

"He also did not agree with Kai when they talked about this. You both gave Ann the benefit of the doubt. Well, Kai and I are also not sure but we decided to tell this to you so at least you would be aware and careful next time."

"Thank you Popuri."

"You, Cliff, and Ann are all our friends and we don't want you to be in bad terms with each other. I personally like you and Cliff together, and I don't think anyone should get in between you."

"Popuri…Cliff and I are friends. And he may invite anyone he likes for any event."

"But you like him. I can tell that from how you look when I mention his name. Heehee.. Didn't you also have even a teeny tiny expectation he would invite you for the festival?"

"Well..I.. I'm not really sure about him having interest on me, Popuri. He might be better off with Ann."

"And why do you say that?"

"Uh..for one I am quite busy. I don't see him as often as Ann does. And I don't know maybe I am a boring sentimental companion."

Popuri held her blonde friend's hand and smiled. "Don't look at yourself like that Claire. You are special in your own ways. Besides, we don't really know about Cliff's preferences for girls so don't lose hope on him."

Claire made an awkward grin.

"Oh yeah. And this is one more thing. I just want you to know that I am here for you and you can talk to me about anything…about the town, the people, matters of the heart, and of course, chickens. Hihi."

"Thank you so much Popuri."

Popuri did not mention to Claire that she sees that Cliff also likes her. She believed that the person who should tell that to Claire is Cliff himself.


	12. Chapter 12: Music Festival and More I

**Chapter 12: Music Festival and More I**

* * *

 _I decided to divide this Music Festival sub-story into two parts because having them together will make a very long chapter. Each chapter has different concept..feels..I think you understand me...hihi.. Thanks to everyone following this story. Belated Merry Christmas and may your 2017 be blessed. :) 3_

* * *

"Good morning Claire!"

"Good morning Carter!"

Claire just finished watering the crops when Carter visited her.

"The town will be celebrating Music Festival at the church in a couple of days. There will be a musical performance then it will be followed by snacks at the backyard. About the musical performance, I'd like to know..do you know how to play the ocarina?"

"Yes. My grandfather taught me how when I was young."

"Great! Will you play with the other girls in a performance?" Carter said.

"Wow! Of course! I'd love to Carter!"

"Thank you Claire."

"What piece are we going to play together?"

"It's the Harvest Goddess Thanksgiving Music. I have a copy of the sheet music at the church."

"I'm familiar with that music! Grandpa used to play that to me. But I'll really need the sheet music to get to know the whole piece. I'll just visit you there after I'm done attending to the animals. Will that be alright?"

"No problem Claire. I'm just at the church."

When Carter left, Claire went to the chicken coop first.

Claire decided to put Pachelbel's egg in the incubator. "You must be getting bored or sad alone in here. You better have some company. In a few days you're gonna have one," she said as she faced Pachelbel.

Afterwards, she proceeded to the barn to feed Mendelssohn and Schubert.

When she was all done with farm work, she went back home, rested for a short while, and then took a bath. After setting herself in clothes and fixing her hair, she went out headed to the church.

oOo

At the church, Carter happily greeted Claire.

"Hello Claire! I just prepared the sheet music here. You can have this copy." And Carter handed Claire the sheet music.

"This is wonderful Carter." Claire examined the composition. "This looks like a very beautiful tune."

"It is. And here is the ocarina. I can let you have it for study and practice at home." Carter gave Claire the ocarina.

"Wow! Thanks Carter!"

"Come here tomorrow after lunch so you can practice with the other girls."

"Sure I'll come. Thanks again!"

"Thank you too Claire."

oOo

Karen, who was sitting on a bench beside the supermarket called Claire. "Hi Claire! I heard you're going to play the ocarina for the Music Festival!"

"Hello Karen! Oh yes. Carter gave me these sheet music so I could practice."

Karen stood up. She held Claire's hand. "Come with me." She pulled Claire to go to the supermarket…all the way to their house. "I have something for you too."

"Huh? What is it?"

"It's a surprise."

Inside Karen's house…"Wait here," Karen cheerfully told Claire.

Later, Karen went back holding a red dress. "Tada!"

Claire stood. "Wow that's so beautiful! Let me guess. Am I going to use that for the festival?"

"Yep! I made this for you. I made dresses for all of us girls for our performance!"

"That's so thoughtful of you Claire. You know I was actually thinking about what to wear after Carter asked me to join the performance at the festival. It's so great that you already made this."

"When Carter told us a few days ago that he was going to ask you to play at the festival, I was confident that you would accept his invitation so I was able to design and make a dress in advance."

Claire giggled. "Gee. Thanks."

"The festival's at 5 p.m. You're gonna have to come here at 3 p.m. so I can help you put the dress on. I will also do your make up. Mary, Popuri, Elli, and Ann are also coming. Oooh! I'm excited to dress you all up!"

"Okay, Karen. I'll be here by three," Claire said chuckling.

"And see you tomorrow at practice!"

"Yeah! See you."

oOo

When Claire got home, she excitedly laid the sheet music on her bed and practiced the piece.

It was not difficult for her to learn the piece since she used to hear it from her grandfather. She was able to familiarize the whole composition within a few minutes.

After practicing with the ocarina, Claire watched a little tv. She caught up with the latest episode of "My Dear Princess."

"Hooah!" Claire yawned when the credits of the show rolled. "Time to call it a day, Beethoven. Goodnight!"

Beethoven barked at her and set himself beside her bed.

Apparently, Claire didn't fall asleep as quickly as she does. She was wondering about something.

'I remember how to play the ocarina. I remember grandpa used to play it to me. Distant memories like those I remember, but not that recent one about how I got here? Why?'

She felt a little pain in her head. She held it as tears fell on her face.

She later on fell asleep.

oOo

The next day, it was practice day for the Music Festival.

After doing farm work and fixing herself, Claire got the ocarina and the sheet music in her rucksack and walked to town, headed to church.

On her way, she met Popuri at the south fork.

"Hi Claire! On your way to the church for practice?"

"Hello Popuri! Yes!"

"Let's go together!"

"Sure! Come on!"

Claire and Popuri chatted as they walked.

"Carter told us that you would be playing the ocarina. It's nice we'll be hearing from you. Duke and Manna's daughter Aja used to play the ocarina. But since she left, nobody played it."

"It's a pleasure for me to join in the performance. How about you Popuri? What will you be playing?"

"I'll be playing the harp!"

"That's so wonderful!"

"Uhm, Claire, Ann will be there at the practice. If you feel like you're uncomfortable, just make a good excuse. Anyways, Elli, Mary, Karen, and I will be there so you don't have to worry."

"Thank you very much Popuri."

oOo

Elli and Mary were already at the church when Claire and Popuri came.

"Hi Elli! Hi Mary! Where is Carter?" Claire asked.

Elli and Mary both greeted Claire and Popuri.

"He's out and about in town." Elli giggled.

"He said he'll be reminding the villagers about the festival tomorrow," said Mary.

"Won't he be watching us rehearse?" said Claire.

Popuri chuckled. "No Claire. He likes to see the performance at the festival night itself. He said he wants to be as surprised and as amazed as the other members of the audience when they react."

"Oh! Heehee.."

Soon, Karen and Ann came.

The girls started their rehearsal.

Karen took charge of the practice.

Popuri sat beside the harp at the left side of the altar (audience point of view).

Ann and Elli stood behind Carter's table. They were both going to play the flute. They stood a little apart from each other so that they could be viewed by the spectators.

Mary's place was at the church organ to the right of the altar.

Claire was in front of Mary, a little right further so she wouldn't block Mary.

Karen was the singer. She stood in front of Carter's table.

The girls spent about an hour synchronizing the harmony of the instruments and Karen's singing. They ran the complete flawless practice performance three times, taking a little rest in between rounds.

When practice was over and the girls were fixing themselves and their stuff, Ann approached Claire.

Popuri noticed Ann and readied herself just in case she needed to help Claire.

"Claire! It will be your first time to perform in Music Festival with us. You're so great because you already know how to play the ocarina."

"Thank you Ann," Claire said kindly.

"So how was your Fireworks Festival?"

Popuri thought to herself, 'oh no..here she goes.'

"It was wonderful!" Claire answered Ann.

"But I didn't see you at the beach. Where were you? Who were you with? I was with Cliff that time." Ann made a quick side eye thinking 'I'm going to get you.'

Just then, Popuri butted in. "Claire! Didn't you tell me you watched the fireworks from Mother's Hill with Beethoven? I want to watch with you next year. I want to see how Forget-Me-Not Valley celebrates!" she said as she put her hand on Claire's shoulder.

"Oh! Look at the time! It's almost five! Didn't you have to be back by five because Carter will collect the shipment?" Karen asked.

"Huh? Uh..yeah.." Claire said.

"You should go Claire," said Mary.

"But what about you? Here? Shouldn't we prepare the place for tomorrow?"

"Don't worry Claire. We can handle the preparations. You have to get back home before Zack arrives, right Ann?" said Elli.

"Uhm..yeah. You should go Claire," said Ann hesitantly.

"I'll just accompany her since my way is also the west path. I need to get home early too. My mom might need me," said Popuri, already pulling Claire. "Bye girls!" She waved.

"Goodbye everyone! I'm really sorry for going early. See you tomorrow." Claire made an awkward and guilty smile.

The others, except for Ann who had a straight face, bade goodbye with smile in return.

When Claire and Popuri were walking outside, Claire said, "I know what you did there Popuri." She made an annoyed, naughty side eye at Popuri.

Popuri only chuckled.

"So everyone knew? Well, of course everyone saw Cliff and Ann at the beach..but everyone knew about Cliff and..uh.."

"About Cliff and you…"

"Uh..no..uh..well.."

"Wait..sorry.. About sort of almost Cliff and you?" Popuri finished her question, giggling.

"Uhm.."

"Like yeah? Hmmm... let's just say many people in Mineral Town like you and Cliff to be together…and they got surprised when they did not see you and Cliff together at the Fireworks Festival.. Well..many do not also agree with what Ann did."

"But I told you, Ann probably did not.."

"I know.. I know..Ann probably did not have ill intentions. But, that's not how the others thought about it when they heard about what happened."

"But Ann might wonder about what you did today. You were in like a team work back there." Claire grinned.

"It's the best we could think of to keep her away from pressuring you. Don't worry, the girls will take care of her."

"I really don't know what to think Popuri but thank you."

"You're welcome Claire. Hurry now. Zack will arrive soon!" Popuri said when they reached the fork.

"Oh yeah. Thank you Popuri. See you at the festival tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow Claire."

Claire came home just in time before Zack arrived.

Zack collected the shipment for the day and paid Claire.

Afterwards, Claire put back the animals in their shelters then she went inside her house with Beethoven.

She cleaned herself, ate dinner while watching "My Dear Princess," inventoried her earnings for the day, then went to bed.


	13. Chapter 13: Music Festival and More II

**Chapter 13:Music Festival and More II**

"Cring cring cring!" Claire's alarm clock sounded. It was the day of the Music Festival.

"Good morning Beethoven"

Beethoven barked in response.

Claire stretched then got up.

She had a breakfast of savoury pancake and milk. She checked the weather and news channels as she ate. When she was done, she washed the dishes.

Then, she went outside with Beethoven.

She put some of the crops in the rucksack for home storage. She placed the other crops in the bin for shipment. She also watered the plants.

Afterwards, she went to the chicken coop to feed Pachelbel and check on the egg being incubated.

"We'll see you tomorrow little one!" she said as she stared at the egg.

Claire also attended to her cow, sheep, and horse.

When she finished the stuff to do in the farm, she went back to her house.

She watched an episode of "Life on the Farm" for rest, and when the episode ended, she proceeded to take a bath.

When she got all dressed up, she headed out for Karen's house.

oOo

At Karen's the girls were busy preparing, of course with Karen doing their make up and most the work for the dresses, which were all knee-length.

Karen wore a pink semi-sweetheart.

For Ann, it was a brown v-neck.

A powder blue asymmetric top worked for Elli.

Mary wore a dark blue off shoulder.

Popuri was clad in a spaghetti-strapped lilac dress.

Finally, Claire wore a red boat neck.

"Ooohh! We all look fabulous!" Karen cheerfully said. "Let's go now. We have to be there before everyone else."

oOo

The girls went directly to their respective spots for the performance to key check their instruments for the last time before the program began.

Villagers who were in semi-formal attire arrived at the church from time to time until everyone was present a few minutes before the start of the program.

When the clock struck six, everyone was in the church. Carter stood beside Karen to formally welcome everybody.

"Good evening friends. Tonight, we celebrate the town's annual Music Festival. Let us all witness the beautiful girls of the town, Mary, Popuri, Ann, Elli, Claire, and Karen, as they perform the Harvest Goddess Thanksgiving Music."

Everyone in the audience gave them a warm applause. Carter walked to the side.

The performance started with Mary's opening part using the organ, then each other girl followed after about five seconds of the previous girl. Mary was followed by Popuri, then Ann and Elli together, then Claire, then Karen started to sing.

The girls delivered a beautiful harmonious performance. Karen's voice was very angelic.

The rest of the girls also played their instruments flawlessly.

When the presentation was over, everyone applauded for the girls again. Then Carter walked back in front.

"Thank you very much, girls. That was a really wonderful performance. I now invite everyone for snack at the backyard of the church."

When Carter left to head to the snacks, the girls also left their spots. Karen met her parents who expressed how proud they were of her. Elli and Mary went outside together.

Popuri and Claire were also headed to the backyard, holding each other's hands, delighted of the success of their presentation. As they walked, Popuri noticed Cliff was about to approach them, well..Claire only, she could tell. Claire, however, did not notice him because she was looking the other way.

Right beside the door, Kai was standing. 'Perfect!' Popuri thought. So she made an excuse.

"Claire? Is it alright if I go talk to Kai?" Popuri said.

Claire saw Kai and waved at him. Kai waved back. "Of course. Do go with him. I'll be fine."

"Thank you!" Popuri hugged Claire. Claire was unaware that her pink-haired friend was showing a thumb up to Cliff.

Cliff looked to the side, blushing.

Popuri hurriedly walked to Kai, excited both to see him and to leave Claire with Cliff.

Claire who still had no idea just smiled at the scene of Popuri approaching Kai. She realized she was still holding the ocarina so she decided to put back in its case, along the other portable instruments outside Carter's room.

Claire turned around and it was only then when she saw Cliff who was already close to her. In her surprise, she loosened her hold of the ocarina. Cliff was quick to catch it while Claire held her mouth in shock.

"Got it." Cliff reached Claire's hand. He opened it, and placed the ocarina on it. "Here."

"Thank you." Claire said, still somewhat dumbstruck. "I..I'm just going to store this."

"Sure. Go ahead."

Claire walked to the spot of the instruments. She picked the box of the ocarina and placed the ocarina inside then locked it and put it back among the other instruments. Then she went back to Cliff.

"You surprised me," Claire teased Cliff.

"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to.."

Then Claire gave Cliff a soft punch on the arm. "But you were swift in catching the ocarina.. That was awesome." She then chuckled.

Cliff went red. "Uh..thanks.." He laughed awkwardly.

Then they both looked outside the door leading to Carter's backyard.

"Shall we?" Cliff offered his arm to Claire.

"Why of course." Claire said sweetly in response, and hooked her hand on him.

They headed to the backyard that way, smiling at each other. Ann was however seated in the front row church seat, opposite the instruments. She was staring at Cliff and Claire with a blank expression while she was holding a cloth and the flute she played.

oOo

At the church backyard, Popuri, Kai, Mary, Gray, Elli, Doctor Trent , Karen and Rick were seated together. They occupied two tables since they were a big group.

"Look! Cliff and Claire are together," Mary pointed out.

"Aw. They look so lovely," Popuri said.

Gray waved at Cliff and Claire. "Hey guys! Come sit with us here!"

Cliff and Claire looked at each other and nodded to one another, smiling.

"But I'll get you food first," Cliff told Claire.

"No, let's get food together," Claire insisted.

"Okay, how about I get us drinks and you get us stuff to munch on?"

"Sounds great."

"We'll just get food!" Cliff waved at their friends at the table.

When Cliff and Claire came to their friends, they both put down the food they brought at the table.

Cliff pulled the seat for Claire. He also gave her his coat since her dress didn't have long sleeves nor did she have a shawl to keep her warm.

The girls smiled at Cliff's gentleman gesture. The boys had normal expressions. But actually, they were also happy about Cliff and Claire.

The friends were happily talking about the girls' performance until Ann came out from the church looking at them.

Claire noticed her and waved her hand. "Ann! We're here! Come and join us!"

The others distributed their glances for Claire, Ann and for one another. Still, they are also friends with Ann, so they smiled and welcomed her.

Karen was called by Sasha who was seated with Jeff and Carter. 'Perfect timing,' she thought. "I'm coming!" she said as she stood. She motioned for Ann to go to her seat. "Here Ann! You can sit here," she said kindly.

"Thank you Karen." And Ann sat on Karen's place.

"Uhm, Ann? What would you like to eat? I'll help you get food," Popuri said.

"Thank you but I'm fine. I'm not hungry right now."

Karen quickly went to them to leave Ann a glass of juice. "Here, you should at least drink." She said, then went back to her parents' table.

"Uh..Karen..uhm..thank you."

"Yeah. You should try that juice, my mom made it," said Mary.

"Okay. Thank you so much."

The boys and girls talked not just about the night's presentation but also recalled presentations in the previous years.

Elli also mentioned Aja. "I wonder what would our set-up be if Aja was here."

"Claire would be singing with me then!" said Karen.

Claire blushed. "Huh?"

"You could do that of course! Remember Beach Day bonfire when you sang? You were really awesome!"

All the others agreed.

"Thank you so much for your compliments," said Claire who had streaks of red on her face.

"Next year you should sing! Haha!" Karen said.

Cliff liked that Claire was being humble. He looked at her fondly. Actually, he looked at her occasionally.

Of course, the others noticed that, even Ann. But in all fairness, she kept it cool that time. She didn't stare at Claire like she had fire in her eyes. She also agreed that Claire was good at singing and that she could sing in next year's Music Festival.

Later on, it was time for everyone to go home.

Apparently, Ann was waiting for a chance to have Cliff for herself.

While Claire was talking to Carter, Ann called Cliff.

"Cliff! Let's walk back to the inn together since we both live there."

"Huh? Uh.." Cliff was surprised and confused, thinking of Claire.

Claire heard Ann. She kindly told Cliff, "Yeah. You should accompany Ann to the inn. You also need to rest now."

"But what about you?" Cliff worriedly said.

Popuri suddenly popped out. "Claire will be walking with us since our house is close to her farm. You're welcome," she said cheerfully.

Ann was already showing a mixed expression of boredom and impatience. Cliff noticed that and felt uncomfortable. Nonetheless, he nodded to walking with Ann since Claire also encouraged him.

Then, they all said goodnight to Carter and walked in two groups.

At the corner of the town's west and central streets, Popuri, Claire and Rick said goodnight to Ann and Cliff, then Ann and Cliff turned, headed to the inn.

When Ann and Cliff reached the inn's doorstep, Cliff opened the door for Ann, much to her amusement.

Ann was so dazed but when she turned around to thank Cliff, the door had just closed.

"Cliff?" Then she peeked outside the door and noticed the leaves of the shrub planted in front of the inn move. She frowned, knowing what the heck just happened.

Just as Popuri and Rick had just said goodnight to Claire and turned to the south path, headed to their home, they viewed Cliff running towards them.

Claire, who was looking the other way, noticed that the siblings made some kind of reaction to something behind her. She wondered what it was and when she turned, Cliff was approaching.

"Cliff! What are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to be at the inn already?" Claire said in a concerned tone.

"Goodnight again Claire!" Popuri and Rick waved at Claire, walking away. "Goodnight to you too, Cliff!" Popuri was making little silent claps while Rick was holding his thumb up. Only Cliff noticed their gestures.

When Cliff and Claire were left alone, Claire just raised her eyebrows on Cliff. Cliff looked down. "Uh..I'd just like to make sure you get home safely."

Then Claire giggled. "Oh alright, you're here anyway." And she hooked her hand on Cliff's arm just like she did at the church earlier and they walked to the farm together.

At her doorstep, Claire took Cliff's coat off her and handed it back to its owner. "Here. Thank you so much…for this... and for accompanying me."

And Cliff received it back, smiling. " .. I'll be going now. You should get some rest."

"You should rest when you get back at the inn too."

"I will."

They both chuckled.

"Goodnight Claire."

"Goodnight Cliff."


	14. Chapter 14: Opportunity

**Chapter 14: Opportunity**

A day after the Music Festival, Claire happily woke up, excited to see the new member of the Harvest Moon Farm family.

She decided to go to the chicken coop first before taking her breakfast.

At the chicken coop, she smiled, when she opened the door.

"Wee! Hello little one! Wow! You are so cute! I know exactly what name to give you! 'Tchaikovsky!'"

oOo

At the inn, Cliff was sitting on his bed and staring at his ticket of S.S. Aquamarine.

"Cliff! Guess what? I just perfected a.. hey what's that?" Gray just barged in and noticed Cliff holding the ticket.

"Hey, that's a ship ticket! You're going to leave? Why do I not know this? Does Claire know about this?"

"Dude, will you lower your voice? I was about to tell this to you. Uh..Claire doesn't know it yet. I..I don't think I want her to know it…well..from me..maybe….maybe you should be the one to tell it to her," Cliff said.

"But why are you going to leave?"

"There doesn't seem to be any available job here in town. I asked some folks but they don't have any vacancy in their businesses."

"Are you really sure about this? Claire would be devastated if you leave without telling her."

"I think it's better you tell her instead. And I'm doing this for her. Once I get settled with a nice job, I could go back and open up to her."

"I understand you dude. So when is your trip?"

"I'll leave three days from now, sunset."

oOo

The next day, Claire was watching tv while she was having her breakfast. Beethoven was eating in his bowl beside her.

"Knock knock.."

"Who is it?" Claire asked.

"It's Duke."

"Oh Duke! Wait a second." Claire opened her door. "Good morning Duke!"

"Good morning Claire. Sorry to bother you this early."

"Oh no it's ok. I was just having my breakfast. Why don't you come in and join me?"

"Thank you Claire but I'm good. I already ate with Manna. I'm here to ask you a favor."

"What is it?"

"Tomorrow, we're harvesting wine grapes. I was wondering if you could help out?"

"Sure! That would be fun!"

"Well, in that case, come by at our place at 10 a.m. We'll pay you of course."

"Alright! I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Thanks Claire. And one more thing, maybe you could ask someone to come along with you. It's going to be a lot of work, we need someone to help out."

"Okay. I'll try to find someone who could help."

"Thank you so much Claire. See you tomorrow."

"No problem Duke. See you."

Claire went back inside her house to finish her meal and do the dishes.

Then, she proceeded to her farm duties. She planted carrots, eggplants and sweet potatoes.

After planting, she went to the coop, barn, and stable to feed the animals.

Once she finished, she went back home to rest before taking a bath.

Seated on her couch, she remembered her conversation with Duke and thought about who she could ask to help out in the vineyard the next day.

"Cliff? Oooh.. Why did I immediately think of him? Hmm.. Gray..uh-uh..he's working with his grandpa…Doctor Trent, definitely not…Uhm Kai..no.. he's attending the Snack Shack..Rick..I don't think so too…hmmm.. Cliff.. okay okay." Then she stood.

Beethoven looked at her.

"What? Do I look excited or anything?" She ran to her mirror. "No I'm not….uh..okay okay maybe a little.."

Claire took a quick shower and got dressed in green overalls.

When she was all set. She went to the church.

oOo

Claire peeked her head inside the church and nobody seemed to be around. She walked on the aisle turning her head, with her eyes scanning the place. Nobody was around. Then the door at the left of altar opened.

"Hello Claire. Is there anything I can help you with?" Carter greeted her.

"Hi Carter. I was wondering if you know where Cliff is?"

"Yes. He's there at the backyard."

"Thank you Carter."

"You're welcome."

oOo

Cliff was looking at his reflection on the pond at the church's backyard. Suddenly, Claire's reflection appeared beside his.

"What are you looking at, Cliff?"

Cliff felt all shocked and nervous inside when Claire just appeared beside him. Nonetheless, he acted composed and normal.

"Oh hey, Claire. Uh..I was just checking this place. Carter is taking care of carps in this pond."

"Wow. They're so many and so colorful and so big! And look, they seem rare don't you think? I haven't caught anything like them when I'm fishing…Uh… sorry.. am I talking too much again?"

"No, it's fine Claire."

"Oh yeah. Sorry, I was about to ask you something."

"Okay. What is it?"

"Uhm, Duke went to my place this morning and he asked me if I could help out in the vineyard tomorrow. They'll be harvesting grapes. I said I would help them. Then he asked me if I could find one more person to help because it would be a lot of work. That's why I'm here. Maybe you could go with me and we'll help Duke? But no pressure! If you cannot come, it's okay."

"Sure, I'll help out tomorrow."

Claire made a big smile. "Really?"

"Really." Cliff smiled back at her.

"That's great!" Claire jumped and clapped her hands. Then she jumped to embrace Cliff.

Cliff turned tomato.

"Thanks Cliff! I'm excited!"

"Uh..me too."

Claire then let go. "See you tomorrow at 10 in the morning!"

"Okay. I'll see you."

Claire let one more delighted smile before she walked back to the church, then went home.

oOo

The following day…

"Cliff!" Claire was running on the path to Aja Winery while cheerfully waving at Cliff.

"Hi Claire. Are you all done with work at the farm?"

"Uhuh! Let's go with vineyard work! I'm so excited! It's my first time to pick grapes from vines."

Cliff knocked on Duke and Manna's door.

"Good morning Duke! Good morning Manna!"

"Good morning you two! Hello Claire! Hello Cliff! So you'll be helping us in the vineyard today?"

"Yes."

"Perfect."

"Please follow me."

Duke led them to the vineyard just beside the wine cellar building.

He taught them how to determine which bunches of grapes are okay for picking, and showed them how to carefully remove them from the vines without ruining the vines in their post.

"It's that simple. Do you have any other thing to ask?"

"Everything's clear for me, Duke," said Cliff. "How about you Claire, do you have other things to ask?"

"No..no.. I've got everything Duke. Thank you."

"Well then. I could leave all the work here with you two. I'll be at the wine cellar if you need anything."

"Sure thing, Duke. Thanks," Cliff said.

oOo

Claire and Cliff picked grapes for around an hour. They both filled their baskets.

"How is it going here? Woah! You got a lot right here." Duke came back just as they were finished.

"This would be all for now Duke. There are still some in the vines that are not yet ready to be picked," Cliff said.

"You did very well you two. Why don't you come over our house for dinner? Manna cooked for us."

"I guess we couldn't say no to that," Claire said, chuckling.

Manna prepared dinner of mushroom rice and vegetable salad. They had wild grape juice for drink.

Duke, Manna, Cliff, and Claire happily chatted as they ate.

Duke and Manna have noticed that Cliff was occasionally glancing at Claire, whether when she speaks or even when she eats. But not just that, Claire also does the same to Cliff. But both Cliff and Claire didn't know they were glancing at each other every now and then. To this, Duke and Manna were just smiling at each other and were as if talking about the two in their minds.

After dinner, Claire helped Manna wash the dishes.

Duke and Cliff went to the living room.

When Claire and Manna were done with the dishes, they walked to the living room to join Duke and Cliff.

"I'll just get your pay. I'll be back in a little while," Manna told Claire and Cliff.

Manna returned after a few minutes and handed Claire and Cliff their pays.

"There is one more thing we'd like to ask. And it's to you Cliff," Duke said.

"Huh? Me? What about, Duke?" Cliff wondered.

"Manna and I have been talking. We were thinking maybe you'd like to work here at the winery?"

"This man right here is getting old," Manna said, patting Duke's back, and giggling. Duke made an annoyed side eye at her. Claire and Cliff both chuckled. "And it would be hard for him to work alone for both the vineyard and at the cellar," Manna continued.

"We also heard you were trying to look for a job. It's just last night that we thought that we really need someone to help us in the winery now. So it's perfect timing for you and for us, don't you think?" Duke said.

"Oh, wow. It would be a pleasure to work here for you Duke and Manna. Uh..of course I'd like to work here. Uhm..when do I start?"

"You won't work _for_ us Cliff. You'll work _with_ us. We're going to work on this winery together," Manna said.

"You can start in three days. How about that?" said Duke.

"Wow! Of course! Sure! Thank you so much Duke and Manna."

Claire was smiling Cliff's side, very happy for him.

oOo

"Congratulations on your new job Cliff!" Claire said as Cliff walks her home.

"Thank you Claire. I guess I won't be just bumming at the inn and at the church soon," Cliff said in a cheerful tone.

"Your schedule will change. I hope to still see you regularly," Claire said, in a hollow voice, and frowned.

Cliff reached for her hand and sandwiched it between his. "Don't worry Claire. Of course we'll see each other regularly. I'll tell you my schedule once I get to know my tasks from Duke." Cliff kindly looked at her.

Claire blushed. "Okay…and I'll be visiting you there, too. I-if that's alright?"

"I think Duke and Manna wouldn't mind that."

"That's great!" Claire's face lighted up again with a smile.

oOo

Cliff made sure Claire has locked her door before he went back to the inn.

Back at the inn, as he was looking for clothes for change when his hand landed on his ship ticket.

He almost forgot. He was booked for departure tomorrow. But he accepted the job offered at the winery.

He walked backwards to his bed and sat on it, and thought about what he should do.


	15. Chapter 15: Departure Day

**Chapter 15: Departure Day**

"Is he? Is he serious Gray?" Mary reacted to Gray who told her about Cliff's plan on the very day Cliff was scheduled to leave.

"He's serious Mary. He said that it was also for Claire."

"Hmmm. He must be a little embarrassed to have no job so he will seek one somewhere else, so he could be settled and capable once he tells Claire about how he feels. But why did you tell me about this just now?"

"There's my problem, Mary. Cliff asked me to inform Claire that he would be leaving. Well, I understand him at that. I tried to think but I just don't know how I should approach Claire with that news, and now I'm running out of time."

"I'll help you with this. Why don't you let me be the one to tell it to Claire? Girl talk ways, you know."

"Hmm… That's a great idea, Mary. Sure."

"Okay, I'll talk to her."

Mary looked at her library log.

"Oh.. This is a fortunate coincidence. Look, Gray. Claire borrowed a book that's due today. She has never returned books later than due date. If she's not yet finished reading, she also comes here for extension. I'll wait for her here. She usually comes after lunch."

"I think it will still be fine. There's still time before the ship sails in the afternoon."

"Yeah. Don't worry Gray. Everything will be alright."

"Thank you, Mary."

oOo

Claire just finished watering her crops and feeding her animals.

When she went back home, she noticed there was a mark on her calendar. She walked near it to read what she wrote.

'Oh yeah. Thank goodness I'm done reading this. I can return it to Mary today,' she thought as she held the book, "Fairy and Me."

When she was all set, she walked to the library.

oOo

The bell in the library's door rang when Claire opened the door.

"Hi Mary!"

"Hello Claire!"

"I'm here to return 'Fairy and Me.'"

"So how did you find it?"

"I love it, Mary. It was exciting and magical and romantic. I really love it!"

"I also love that book. It's a page turner!"

"Isn't this book the one mentioned in the 'Fairy and Me' show on tv?"

"Yeah! It's that book! Have you also been following the show?"

"Oh yeah! I haven't missed any episode. Heehee."

"It's wonderful too!"

Claire and Mary enjoyed talking about the "Fairy and Me" book and television show when Mary suddenly remembered what she was supposed to tell Claire.

"Oh wait! Claire! I almost forgot! I have to tell you something about Cliff!"

"Huh? What about him Mary?"

"Gray told me that Cliff will be leaving..oh my god! Today! He's scheduled to leave this afternoon!"

"What? That's not possible.."

"Gray told me earlier that he saw Cliff with a ship ticket. Cliff wanted to find a job. Gray also said Cliff asked him to be the one to tell you about his trip."

"I..I don't understand. Cliff isn't leaving. He's just got a job that he'll start in a couple of days.."

"Huh? I'm not really sure about that but that's what Gray told me. You must go to the dock to be sure. Hurry Claire! The ship will leave soon!"

"Okay. Thank you for telling me, Mary."

"No problem Claire."

Claire rushed to exit the library.

oOo

Along the way, she met Carter.

"Good day Claire. You seem to be in a rush. Is there any problem?"

"Hi Carter." Claire was panting. "Is Cliff inside?" Her head turned to the direction of the church."

"No, he isn't. Actually, he just left."

"Would you know where he was headed?"

"He said he would go to the dock. Is there a problem?"

"I have to catch him Carter. Thank you for telling me. Uhm..I'll tell about this to you some other time. I'm so sorry."

"It's alright, Claire. Go."

"Thank you, Carter." And Claire bolted to the beach.

oOo

As Claire ran, she felt heaviness inside her.

Then the ship sounded its horn. Claire ran faster.

When she was descending the stairs to the beach, the ship's anchor was already raised.

'No..no.. you can't be leaving,' Claire thought as she ran towards the end of the dock.

The ship sailed far already.

Claire stopped at the end of the dock. She looked down as she wrapped herself with her arms.

Just then, the door of Zack and Won's cottage sounded.

oOo

Earlier, Cliff went to Zack to inquire what he could do about his ticket. He decided to stay in Mineral Town since he accepted the job offered by Duke and Manna.

Fortunately, the ticket wouldn't be put to waste. Won had some urgent business to take care of overseas so he asked that the ticket use be transferred to him.

Won rode the ship that just left town.

Cliff stayed with Zack for a while for a little talk.

"Hey, is that Claire running to towards the dock?" Zack noticed Claire from the cottage window.

Cliff looked and saw her. "It is her. Oh no. Zack, I'm sorry I have to go to her."

"No problem Cliff. Thanks for dropping by."

"Thank you too, Zack."

oOo

"Claire?"

Claire looked up at the horizon and then behind her.

Cliff was standing right there.

Claire ran to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She was crying as she spoke, "I thought you were going to leave. I was worried. I was scared."

Cliff realized how much Claire would be hurt if he did leave without informing her. He closed his eyes and held her back. "I'm not going to leave you anymore."

Suddenly, Claire opened her eyes upon realizing something. She let go of Cliff and stepped away from him. "Wait. You planned to leave without telling me. How could you do that?" She was still crying. Then she raised her hands as if in surrender. "Oh..sorry.. I shouldn't have asked you like that.. I.. I.. I don't know..Sorry.."

Then, she ran to leave him.

"Claire, wait…"

Cliff tried to run to catch her but he suddenly stopped deciding not to push himself too much. He knew he hurt her and he thought that wasn't a good time to explain. He decided to give her some time.


	16. Chapter 16: Helpful Friends

**Chapter 16: Helpful Friends**

Claire ran through Rose Square, then headed to the south road, passing by Yodel Ranch and the poultry. She kept running looking down until she bumped into someone just in front of Saibara's house. It was none other than Gray.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry…I wasn't.." Claire said, eyes still on the path.

"Claire? What's the matter?"

Then Claire raised her head after recognizing Gray from his voice.

"Uh, Gray! I'm sorry…I'm sorry.. Uhm.. I'm okay. I just have to get home."

Claire rushed to the direction of her farm.

Gray walked to the inn wondering about what's the matter with Claire. When he got to the male quarters of the inn, he was surprised to see Cliff sitting on his bed.

"Cliff! You're here! Dude, you didn't take the ship? Wait.. Ok now I get what's happening with Claire. "

Cliff looked up at him. "You..you saw her? Wha..what did she say?" His eyes were appealing to know about her.

"Yeah.. we bumped into each other in front of my grandpa's house. She was crying, Cliff. She didn't tell me why. But I think I know the answer."

"This is all my fault. I've got us into this mess."

Gray put down his things then sat on his bed, opposite Cliff. "Okay, let's talk about it."

So Cliff explained to Gray how he was offered the job and decided last minute to stay in town for it and transact with Zack about his purchased ticket.

"Yep. It's all your fault alright," Gray said after Cliff explained everything that happened.

Cliff looked down.

Gray messed up Cliff's hair. "But of course you can still make up for it dude!" He said in a high spirited tone.

Cliff side eyed at him.

Gray chuckled. "Sorry, I was just trying to not sound like it's the end of the world for you because it's really not. We both know Claire. She wouldn't hold grudge against you or anyone. Just give her some time, then you can talk to her."

oOo

The next day, Gray shared to Mary what happened between Cliff and Claire.

"Oh no. Poor Cliff and Claire. They both had valid reasons for how they acted."

"You're right. I wonder if there's anything we can do to help them."

"Actually, I'm thinking just the same. I'm planning to talk to Claire again. This time, I'll go to her. She doesn't have any pending book return today."

"You are awesome Mary. Since I already talked to Cliff last night, I will just wait when you update me about your conversation with Claire. Er..would that be alright? I mean if you're not going to talk about really confidential girl stuff.."

"I'm not sure. But I'll share you what I could."

"Okay."

Gray went to Saibara's while Mary went to her mom at home to tell her she'd be closing the library to attend to something important. Afterwards, she immediately went to Harvest Moon Farm to see Claire.

oOo

Claire was making candied sweet potato when Mary came.

"Knock knock.."

"I'm coming!" Claire as she walked to her door. "Oh Mary! Hi!"

"Good morning Claire!"

"Please come in." Claire motioned for Mary to get inside.

"Claire, I came to talk to you about Cliff. I hope it's okay."

Claire was surprised upon hearing his name. Nonetheless, she replied to Mary, "Uh..sure.. Uhm is it okay if you wait here for a while?" She motioned at the couch in front of her tv. "I'll just finish something I'm cooking."

"No problem."

Claire left Mary to watch tv as she finished making her candied sweet potato.

After a few minutes, "All set!" Claire said as she brought a tray containing a bowl of candied sweet potato and two glasses of juice to her living room table.

"Wow..that looks delicious Claire!"

"Please help yourself Mary. But be careful, it's still a bit hot." And Claire sat beside Mary.

Mary tried Claire's candied potato. "Hmm! I love it Claire! Thanks!"

"You're welcome."

"Okay, I'll go straight to our topic now."

Claire nodded.

"Gray told me what happened..about how Cliff planned to leave without telling you, we already know that…and then so there's this new happening that Cliff just got a job..and then he decided to stay but he wasn't able to inform Gray about the job so I was able to tell you about Cliff leaving..and then what happened in the dock.. Uhm..sorry..but were you able to follow that?"

"Yeah," Claire said as she giggled.

"The thing is..I hope you're not really mad at Cliff because you know him, that he would never want to hurt you. There are just some things he could not tell you..not that he didn't trust you if you got to know them, but he couldn't because, he was probably shy to let you know."

"Huh?" Claire was confused.

"You see… Cliff came here in town without a job and of course he had to spend for his lodging and all. But soon, he realized he was running out of funds so he had to find a job. Apparently, upon his first try, he hadn't found any yet so he thought he should try in other places."

"But why didn't he tell me so I could help him?"

"Exactly!"

"Huh?"

"He didn't want to tell you because he didn't want himself to be a problem for you. He knows you are busy and you still have some things to worry about that he didn't want to add himself to your worries."

Claire blushed. "But.."

'Oh Claire..Cliff loves you so much he wanted to have his own source of income so he could earn for you and save for your future,' Mary thought, though she didn't say it to Claire and told her instead, "Claire, just think like this. Cliff cares for you… that's why he didn't want you to worry. But look now. He already found a job, and you helped him find it, without knowing he actually needed it, and he decided to stay here. He's not leaving anymore." Mary was smiling at Claire.

"I guess you're right Mary." Then Claire lifted her hands to her cheeks. "Ooooh.. I feel terrible. I left him feeling bad at the dock yesterday."

Mary held Claire's arm. "Cliff might have felt bad about himself, thinking how much he hurt you and could have hurt you even more if he actually left. But I am very sure he doesn't and he will **never** feel bad about you."

Claire was still red.

"How about this? Why don't you reflect about what we just talked about, so you could think about what you should say to him? And when you're ready, go and talk to him. I'm very sure he will not ignore you."

"I will do just that. Thank you so much Mary."

"No problem Claire. Anything for friends." She said, smiling.

Claire and Mary hugged each other. Then they stood and walked to the door.

"I'll be going now. I maybe needed at home," said Mary.

"Sure."

"Thanks again for the snack!"

"Yeah. I'm glad you loved it."

When Mary left, Claire finished eating the snack she made. Then as she cleaned the dishes that she and Mary used, she thought she wanted to spend some peaceful time alone with nature.

After doing the dishes, Claire went out and locked her door. She let Beethoven run around the fields with Dvorak.

She walked to the south exit of her farm.

oOo

As Claire walked along the forest path, she spotted the brown-haired boy she was just thinking about, who appears to be also headed to where she was going. They both paused in shock, looking at each other.


	17. Chapter 17: Towards Healing

**Chapter 17: Towards healing**

Cliff was walking along the forest path, headed to the Mother's Hill. When he passed by Gotz's cottage, he paused in shock as soon as he saw Claire who appeared to be headed to Mother's Hill as well.

"I'm sorry.. I.." He looked down in all guilt and embarrassment and turned around. But before he could step away, Claire spoke.

"Cliff, wait," she said loudly but gently. "Don't go please." She was reaching out for him.

Cliff raised his head as soon as he heard her voice. He turned back to the path to the hill. Claire slowly walked towards him.

"Are you going to Mother's Hill?" Claire, with her hands behind her, asked Cliff.

"Uh..yes."

They were both red.

"Uhm..I'm going there too. Uh..let's go together then?"

"Uh-of course."

Claire walked ahead of Cliff. She wrapped herself in her arms as she walked.

Cliff followed her with his hands in his pockets.

They walked silently until they reached the summit of Mother's Hill. They stared at the view as they stood side by side.

There was about a minute of silence between the two of them until they spoke the same words at the same time.

"I'm sorry," they both said.

They were both surprised upon hearing one another say exactly the same thing simultaneously.

"Claire, I'm really.." Cliff was cut when Claire pressed her finger on his lips. Streaks of red appeared on his cheeks.

"Shhh.." She let out a very kind smile. "You don't have to apologize. I understand everything." She removed her finger from his lips. She wrapped herself in her arms again and looked down. "Uh..I'm the one who should say sorry. I acted like an immature." She raised her gaze on him shyly. "I'm really sorry Cliff."

"No, Claire.."

Suddenly, to Cliff's tomato shock, Claire threw her arms around his neck. Her voice was barely audible as she spoke while her face was buried in his shoulder. But he could understand her perfectly say, "Let's just let this pass. What's important is you're still here because you decided to stay."

Cliff smiled. He held Claire's back with his right hand and stroke her hair with his left. "Thank you Claire. Yes, I decided to stay. I am staying for you."

Claire closed her eyes and smiled.

Suddenly, a scene flashed on her mind. She saw in her mind she was embracing someone who was also embracing her while in the middle of a busy crowd. She tried to recall who was holding her in that event but as she thought hard about it, her head ached.

"Ou!" Claire exclaimed as she held her head in pain.

Cliff was surprised. "Claire? What's the matter?" He held her shoulders and looked at her worriedly.

"I..I think I just remembered something. I was.." Claire was about to describe what she saw to Cliff but thought of holding back, worried that he might feel bad if she tells him she was embracing someone in that flash of memory. "Uh..it's hard to figure out where I was.."

Cliff noticed that Claire held back on opening up to him. But he didn't pry on her. Instead, he held her hands and said kindly, "Don't force yourself in recalling stuff if you're having difficulty. Everything will be clear for you soon."

Tears ran out of Claire's eyes. She was touched by Cliff's kindness. She tiptoed and pulled him in another embrace.

Though shocked, Cliff returned her embrace.

Claire wanted to remember about her journey to Mineral Town so bad. But that new memory made her think she would rather not remember at all. She didn't know who was it embracing her in that memory. The only thing she knew was that she only wanted to be in Cliff's arms.

Then she pulled herself away, but she was still holding Cliff's shoulders.

They were sincerely looking at each other.

But as if something struck Claire, she shyly let go of Cliff and took a little step backwards. "Uh..I'm sorry. I'm just really happy we got to talk."

"Uh..yeah. Me too." Cliff was scratching the back of his head, feeling the same awkwardness.

"Uhm..hey…isn't tomorrow your first day on the job at Aja Winery?"

"Oh..yeah.." 

"Well..I hope you'll have a great start. Uh..I'll visit you once I get done with work at the farm."

"Of course. But do take your time at the farm. If I finish earlier than you do, I'll be the one to drop by at your place. What do you say?"

"That sounds great. Sure." Claire giggled.

oOo

Later, Cliff walked Claire back to her house.

At her doorstep, even after their 'good nights,' Claire realized Cliff wasn't poised to leave.

She held his cheek. "Hey..what's that look all about?"

Cliff held the hand touching his face. "Claire, how are you feeling now? I mean because earlier, at the hill.."

"Oh that. I'm fine. And that's thanks to you." She pinched both his cheeks, and showed an animated face.

"Huh? Why thanks to me?"

"Because you were with me." She let a small smile.

Cliff blushed. But he knew Claire wasn't completely okay so he reached for her hand. "Claire, I want you to know that I will always be here for you whenever you need me."

Claire turned red at his words. "Thank you Cliff."

Then he diverted the conversation, knowing that Claire was still feeling uneasy. "We have to rest now. We both got work tomorrow."

"Oh yeah! Good luck tomorrow Cliff! I'll see you around."

"Good night again, Claire."

Claire chuckled. "Good night again, Cliff."

Then Claire closed her door and locked it.

Unknown to each other, Claire and Cliff both leaned on Claire's door for a while, worried about one another.

After a few seconds, Cliff stepped away and headed back to the inn, while Claire attended to Beethoven, then fixed herself to turn in for the day.

oOo

"Hey.. how did it go?" Gray asked Cliff who just arrived at their quarters at the inn.

"It went well, didn't it?" Kai said, a little bit doubtful, because Cliff didn't look happy. Gray told him what happened when he asked about why he saw from the Snack Shack that Claire was running, looking sad, at the beach earlier.

"Yeah..It went fine." Cliff told his friends.

"I knew it!" Kai said raising a closed fist.

"Told you! Haha!" Gray put his right elbow on Cliff's left shoulder.

"Congratulations, Cliff! Baby steps! Soon you'll be ready to tell her how you feel, everything, the truth!" Gray said excitedly.

"Ahm.. I still need time for that. I don't think she's ready to know yet."

"Why do you say so?" Gray asked.

"It seems like she's still having a hard time trying to remember stuff. I don't want to confuse or pressure her."

"So that explains your face! Well, there's nothing else we can do but wait until Claire's got a good load of the details again. Once she's ready, you should also be ready," Gray said.

"Gray's right. In the mean time, let's do our best to help this town and make people happy. We can even make our girls proud, don't you think? I mean, we all got work tomorrow so we better sleep now," said Kai.

They all laughed.

"You're both right. Thanks guys," said Cliff.

…

 _Carry on.._

 _I'll be waiting.._


	18. Chapter 18: First Day at Work

**Chapter 18: First Day At Work**

Claire excitedly got up from bed 6 a.m. the next day. She wanted to bring Cliff his lunch for his first day at work.

"What should I bring him?" Claire said as she lifted Beethoven and danced him. "Come on let's check the crops!" And they both ran outside.

"Oh goodie! A manageable volume of work today!" There was harvest from the squares of eggplant and green pepper. The other crops only needed to be watered.

Claire then went to feed the animals and to get their products for shipment.

By 10 a.m. she was finished with farm work. She stood at her doorstep, faced the field, and took one last review of everything to be sure she was done with the morning chores. "Crops, done! Animals, okay!" Then she kneeled to Beethoven who was sitting up beside her. "Now let's prepare lunch. Hihi!"

Claire turned on the tv. It was a wonderful timing that the show was "Dueling Chefs" as she watched from the kitchen counter while she was cooking.

oOo

That same day, Cliff also excitedly woke up and prepared himself.

When he, Gray, and Kai were all set, they went down together for breakfast.

Ann greeted the boys. "Good morning! Dad just finished cooking breakfast! I'm going to bring them in. Please be on your seats."

The three boys thanked Ann.

Ann saw that Cliff had a bag hanging on his chair. "Cliff? Why are you bringing your bag today? Are you going somewhere?"

"This gent over here is going to his work. It's his first day today!" Gray answered for Cliff.

"He's now working at the Aja Winery!" said Kai.

"Work at the winery?" asked Ann.

"Guys!" Cliff chuckled to his friends who excitedly answered for him. Then he looked up to Ann. "Well, they said everything. Yes, I have work now. Apparently, Duke and Manna were looking for someone to help them. Since I was looking for a job and I liked the work when I first tried it, I grabbed the opportunity when the couple asked me."

"Really? So does that mean you'll be staying here in town?" Ann asked, with her eyes rapidly blinking.

"Uh, yeah. It's a regular job so I should be here regularly," Cliff said kindly.

Then Ann hugged Cliff in excitement. "Wow! I'm so happy! I'm so happy!" But she let go and awkwardly added, "..for you! I'm so happy for you that you finally have a job."

Gray saw what should be seen and secretly rolled eyes, then looked at Kai who raised his eyebrows in response. No words needed.

When the boys left, Ann happily thought to herself, "I'm going to surprise Cliff for lunch later!"

oOo

Claire tasted the curry rice she made. 'Mmm! I think this is okay. Now I'll just let this simmer.' She covered the pot.

As she waited for a few minutes for her cooking to be ready, she prepared the lunch box where she would put the food.

'I hope he likes it,' she thought, blushing alone.

Claire later turned off the fire on the stove. She let the curry rice set in the pot for a while as she took a bath and put on new clothes.

When she was ready, Claire transferred curry rice into the lunchbox she prepared and wrapped the lunchbox in a cloth. She then went out and headed to Duke and Manna's house.

oOo

Claire knocked on Duke and Manna's door.

"Come in," Manna said kindly.

As Claire opened the door, she immediately spotted Manna who was busy at the kitchen, and Duke, who was packing up wine in the living room. "Hi Duke! Hi Manna! How are you?"

"Hello Claire! We're good! We're good!" said Duke.

"Hello Claire, honey. Why don't you join us for lunch?"

"Oh thank you…that is so kind of you but I'm good. I hope to join next time if you don't mind," Claire said shyly.

"Oh..no problem dear. You must be looking for Cliff. Am I right?" said Manna, giggling.

Claire blushed. "Uhm. Yes. I wanted to surprise him for lunch on his first day at the job."

"Aww. That is so thoughtful of you. Cliff is there at the vineyard," said Manna.

"His morning task is to pick grapes. He must be at the inner area of the vineyard that's why you didn't see him," Duke added.

"Alright. I will go check him there. Thank you Manna and Duke."

"You're welcome," the couple responded.

Claire turned back to the door and headed out. But as she was poised to go to the vineyard, she saw Cliff walking to the direction of the inn, with Ann clinging to him.

Claire stepped behind the Aja Winery sign to hide. When both Cliff and Ann were inside the inn, she went out from her hiding and decided to walk back home.

She felt bad as she walked, remembering how it looked when Ann was holding Cliff's arm.

But, she quickly shook her head and shook off negative thoughts. 'Oooh what was I thinking. Of course it can't be helped. I was planning to surprise him anyway…so he really had no idea…so he really could have had other plans.'

oOo

As they entered the inn, Cliff worriedly asked Ann, "Are you sure it's okay I didn't inform them I'll have lunch here?"

"Of course! You can decide wherever you want to eat at lunchtime. You can even go to Kai's if you like."

So Cliff had lunch at the inn as he was invited by Ann. As they ate, they talked about how was his work at the winery so far.

When they were done with the food, Cliff thanked Ann and excused himself to return for work.

oOo

At the wine cellar, Cliff saw Duke was already there.

"Hi Duke!"

"Hi Cliff! You're early for the afternoon tasks. Are you ready for them?

"Yes I am." Cliff answered excitedly.

Duke taught Cliff about the tasks in extracting grapes to be used for juice and wine. He demonstrated the procedures that Cliff followed.

"You're a quick learner Cliff. I'm okay to let you work on your own."

"Thank you Duke. Thank you too for teaching me."

"No problem…I have to leave you here now. I still have to help Zack with the exports."

"Okay Duke."

Then Duke left.

oOo

When Cliff was done with the day's tasks, he went to Duke and Manna's house to report.

"Welcome back Cliff. Are you done for the day?"

"Yes Manna. Has Duke come back from Zack's?"

"He hasn't come back yet. Maybe he's got himself occupied with drinks with Zack and the crew from the trade ship. Since you're done with work, you can leave. I'll just tell Duke…By the way.. Someone surprised you for lunch, didn't she?"

"Huh? How did you know it's a she?

"Well, she dropped by here earlier, asking for you."

Cliff thought, 'I don't remember Ann telling me she dropped by Duke and Manna's.'

Manna noticed that Cliff looked puzzled. She described their visitor earlier in an interrogative tone to confirm her speculation, "Blue jumper, blonde hair?"

"Blue jumper, yes. But blonde hair? No.. Red head. Ann invited me for lunch."

"You mean you didn't see Claire earlier?"

"No. She came to see me?"

"Yes. She said she brought something for you. That's odd. I wonder what happened." Manna noticed that Cliff looked worried when he heard about Claire so she kindly told him, "Why don't you go check on her? Make sure she's okay. I am worried too."

"Okay Manna. Thank you for telling me. I'll be going now."

And Cliff rushed, headed to Harvest Moon Farm.


	19. Chapter 19: Troubled Hearts

**Chapter 19: Troubled hearts**

Cliff took the west road to Harvest Moon Farm. He met Zack who was carrying..well.. a sack ..of shipments.

"Hey there Cliff! Duke said you're working at the winery now."

"Hi there Zack! Yeah. I just started today."

"Congratulations and thank you. You're really going to be a great help to them and to the town."

"Thank you too, Zack. I'll do my best."

"Well, gotta have these set for export!" Zack was referring to the shipment. "I'll see you around!"

"See you Zack!"

When Zack left, Cliff ran to the farm.

oOo

At the farm, Cliff looked around first but saw no one. But later on, he heard the door of the stable open.

Beethoven came out from the stable and ran playfully. Claire followed him, giggling at her canine friend who was still energetic in the afternoon. "Be careful Buddy!" she said loudly but sweetly.

Cliff looked to Claire's direction. Claire saw him looking at her worriedly and immediately closed the door of Dvorak's stable.

"Cliff!" Claire worriedly ran to him.

To Claire's surprise, Cliff reached for her hands and lifted them to the level of his chest. "You were supposed to see me for lunch?"

Claire's eyes widened, as she was dumbfounded when she felt the warmth of Cliff's hands. "Well..I..well.. yes..but..uh..never mind.." She looked to the side.

Cliff stepped to the side where she was facing and lowered himself so his eyes could meet hers. "I couldn't just not mind, Claire. Did something get in the way?"

"Uhm.."

"Oh wait. You saw me with Ann, didn't you?"

"Well..I.."

Cliff closed his eyes in regret and guilt. "Oh Claire..I'm so sor.."

Claire then quickly covered Cliff's mouth, to the latter's reddening of face. "No no no..You don't have to say sorry. Well, I planned to surprise you… soooo… you should really have no idea about what I wanted to do. It just happened that Ann came earlier..and..I didn't want you to get confused so I decided not to call you when I saw you," she said kindly and sweetly.

He looked at her with still very sorry eyes. She saw that look. She realized that that time was the chance so she took it.

"You're here. You must be done with work for today I suppose," Claire said.

"Yes," Cliff said.

"Perfect! How about dinner at my house tonight since my surprise lunch didn't push through?"

"You think I could say no?"

They mischievously stared at each other for a few seconds, then burst into laughter together.

Claire grabbed Cliff's hand and pulled him to her house. She whistled at Beethoven who immediately ran and bumped them both on the legs so he could get inside first. They both chuckled.

"You wait here." She asked him to be seated at her couch. What would you like to watch?"

Cliff was still standing. "No, I'll help you."

"No..no need." Claire waved her hands in front of his face. "There's not much work to do. The food is actually what I cooked for lunch... But hey it's still good! I will just reheat it."

"It's fine. It's good and practical that you reheat food if you have not consumed it all. Just make sure it's okay because there are some kinds of food that easily spoil." Cliff said, smiling.

"Sure did! I kept it in the fridge after I waited for it to cool at room temperature. Now you stay here. I'll reheat it and prepare the other stuff we need. So what would you like to watch?"

"Alright alright. If you insist. I'll just scan the channels. I'm not that familiar with the shows."

"Okay. Here's the remote."

Beethoven sat beside Cliff's feet.

"Hey Beethoven.. you must be tired from all that running and playing," Cliff kindly said as he stroke the dog's head.

"Hihi. You're right. He's really energetic, and very reliable too. He's really awesome in guarding the farm and chasing out wolves," said Claire, who was getting the food she stored in the fridge.

Claire transferred the food to a pot for reheating. In a few minutes, she lifted the cover and saw that the food was boiling briskly so she took a large spoon to stir it.

As Claire stirred the food in the open pot, the food released a pleasant aroma familiar to Cliff.

Cliff decided to check on Claire's cooking.

"Is that curry rice?" he said. He was already standing beside Claire.

"Uh, yes."

"Wow, that's my favorite!"

"Really? I'm glad I decided to make this. I just learned this from 'Dueling Chefs.'"

"I'm excited to try it!"

"Okay okay…" Claire turned off the stove and transferred the curry rice in a bowl. Then she lifted it and brought it to the dining table. "Here we go.."

When they were both seated, they both put portions of the food on their plates. Claire didn't start to eat yet as she watched Cliff try the food. She nervously looked at him.

"I hope you like it."

Cliff ate a spoonful. He slowly chewed the food before swallowing it. Then, he exclaimed, "Mmm! This is great Claire! I love it!"

Claire's eyes narrowed. "You're kidding me."

"No.. really, it is great. It's one of the best recipes I have ever had."

"The others made by…?"

"Well..just another one.. made by my mom."

"Woah. That's too much for you to level my cooking to your mom's. But thank you."

"I'm sure she would like you if she had met you."

"'Had' met me?"

"She's gone now. My sister and I lost her in an illness."

"Oh my.. I'm so sorry."

Then Cliff reached for Claire's hand. "Everyone's got to say goodbye to this life and his or her loved ones at some point. We just don't know when would that be so we better cherish the time we got and grab the chances that are there for us."

"…And do our best to make others happy, be at peace with everyone. It's a great feeling to live and die without being in bad terms with anyone," she added.

Cliff took a deep breath at Claire's added thoughts. "You're right. And I still have to work out that being at peace with people.. I'm not really in good terms with my sister right now."

"Huh? Uhm.." As much as she was curious, Claire respected Cliff's personal issues so she didn't ask about his sister. "Well… I'm sure you would find a way to reconcile with her." She sandwiched his hand between hers.

"Thank you…uh..well..that's about it. Sorry I got a little sentimental."

"Don't be. I'm a sentimental person too, you know," she giggled.

He smiled.

Cliff thanked Claire for the dinner. He insisted on helping Claire with the dishes and didn't accept her refusal. When they were done, Cliff went back to the inn.

oOo

When Cliff arrived at the inn, he caught Ann on a conversation on the phone.

"..Uh..yes..he's here. He just arrived actually. Please wait. I'll tell him about you." Ann said to the person on the phone. She handed the phone to Cliff. "Madison."

Cliff paused for a while before he accepted the phone.

"It's Cliff," he started to speak to the person on the phone. "I'm okay…I'm staying here at the inn… Yeah I'm good. I got a job at a winery… I just started… Oh so you got married… No no no don't bother yourself…I have to go. I'm tired." Then he put the phone down.

Ann, who was right there all the while, curiously asked, "Who's Madison?"

"My sister," Cliff answered. Then he excused himself to go upstairs.

oOo

So now, Cliff thought, his sister finally learned where he is. There's no escaping the past. But amid the trouble he was feeling, he noted how coincidental it was that he was talking about his sister to Claire earlier, and the blonde girls's voice echoed in his mind.

" _I'm sure you would find a way to reconcile with her."_

"I hope so." He thought.

oOo

Before Claire went to bed, she prayed that Cliff and his sister would be able to settle their problem.

Then a new scene flashed in her mind. There, she was looking at birds flying over the sea, and then she brought her eyes to her hands resting on the railings of what seems to be a ship. Another pair of hands was resting beside hers.

Claire tried to recall whose hands were those but her head ached and at the same time, she felt scared.

'There was somebody with me on my journey here? But Cliff..no..'

Tears fell down to her pillow as she decided to close her eyes and sleep the pain away.


	20. Chapter 20: Box of Identity

**Chapter 20: Box of Identity**

" _It's Cliff."_

" _Oh my god, Cliff! It's you! I've heard about what happened to Starboard! How are you now?"_

" _I'm okay."_

" _I just got information from the Starboard's office that you're in that town! Do you have a place to stay there?"_

" _I'm staying here at the inn."_

" _Do you still have money? You left home without any source of income."_

" _Yeah I'm good. I got a job in a winery.."_

" _Really? How's your job?"_

" _I just started…"_

" _I hope to see you soon. I'll go there as soon as my husband arrives. He's overseas right now and he won't be here for the next two months."_

" _Oh so you got married."_

" _Yeah. We've missed a lot. By 'we' I mean the two of us. We have to catch up. We have to talk. Anyways, I'll send in some of your stuff so you could have more things to use there."_

" _No no no don't bother yourself…"_

" _It's okay. It's the least I could do right now."_

" _I have to go. I'm tired."_

oOo

"Hi!" Claire peeked from one of the grapevines, to Cliff's red shock.

"Claire! You're here! You must be done with morning chores early."

"Yup! Got some help from little friends!" She walked to Cliff's side.

"You must be referring to the harvest sprites. Carter told me about them."

"Yes. They offered to help me. They told me I needed help especially this season. They said it's the busiest because of a lot of produce."

"Harvest sprites. They really are experts in harvest matters. Duke and Manna also told me grapes would also be abundant this season."

"Finally I got to surprise you here at your work! Heehee.."

"You sure did."

Cliff has been working at the winery for four days now. It was only today that Claire got to surprise him because indeed, fall was a busy season for farm work.

"So…how do you know which ones here are good for picking?"

And Cliff shared to Claire some of the basics about grape picking he learned from Duke.

Later, Duke came to the vineyard. "Well hello there Claire! Checking on Cliff ey?"

Claire and Cliff quickly walked a little apart from each other, blushing.

Duke laughed.

Just then, Zack came, bringing a box. "Cliff! This came from the ship today. It's for you. I'll just bring this to your room at the inn."

Claire looked at Cliff in a mix of surprise, curiosity and confusion.

"Thank you Zack!" Cliff returned to his work. "It must be from my sister. I told her not to bother about sending my stuff," he spoke, facing the grapevine. "Uh.. uhm sorry.. I haven't mentioned to you, my sister actually called last night. She learned that I'm here."

"Oh..wow. That's amazing. We were just talking about her a few nights ago now you got to talk…even just on phone. That's a good..development," Claire said, smiling.

"Yeah," was all that Cliff was able to say.

There was silence until Manna came and broke it. "You two…oh hello Claire! Three..You three.. Lunch is ready. Claire, come eat with us."

"That is so kind of you Manna. Uhm.." Claire cautiously looked at Cliff. She thought she annoyed him talking about his sister.

"Now if you don't mind Claire honey I'd like to ask for your help in setting up the table. You two gentlemen wrap up your morning tasks and follow us at home okay? Please come with me Claire."

"Sure Manna. Uh…I'll see you Duke..Cliff.."

oOo

At lunch, Duke and Manna wondered why Cliff and Claire were quiet.

The elder couple didn't get themselves involved on what they thought was a little conflict between Cliff and Claire. Instead, they broke the dull monotony by asking about food and work.

"Thank you for helping me Claire," Manna started. "And thank you for having lunch with us."

"You're welcome. And I should be the one to thank you for this lunch. This is wonderful."

"You are always welcome honey. How about you Cliff? Do you like the food?"

Cliff was so pre-occupied but he snapped out of it when he heard Manna asking him. "Uh.. yeah. It's great."

When lunch break was over, Manna took charge of the dishes. She asked Claire to go back to her farm, and Cliff and Duke to go to the wine cellar for their afternoon works.

"Thanks again for the meal. I'll be going now!" Claire said cheerfully to Manna and Duke. "I'll see you around." Then she shyly looked at Cliff. "I'll see you Cliff." Then she went outside, headed home.

oOo

"Claire, wait.." Outside of Duke and Manna's house, Cliff followed Claire and reached out for her. Then he walked towards her. "Uhm..I'll walk you home."

"No..I'll be fine. You still got work to do," she said kindly, but feeling awkward.

"In that case, uh..is it okay if we meet this afternoon?"

Somehow, Claire was relieved. She wasn't the cause of Cliff's odd behavior after all because he actually asked to see her later. It must be solely about him and his sister. Of course, she still felt worried and concerned for him. She held his cheek. "If that's what could make you feel better. Sure," she said softly.

He held the hand on his face. "Thank you. I'll see you then."

oOo

As they have agreed, the two met.

Cliff picked Claire from her house and they walked to Mother's Hill together.

When they reached the hill's summit and sat beside each other, Cliff briefed Claire, "You might loathe me after this."

"Oh really? Try me," Claire only answered teasingly.

"Madison. That's my sister's name," Cliff began. "She's older than me by a couple of years. We grew up in the care of our mom only because our dad passed away when I was a baby, and Madison was also very young then. Madison and I were really close as children but our closeness started to change as we grew, perhaps because of the people we encountered and experiences we had. When I graduated from college, she immediately urged me to get a job. But I refused and told her I wanted to rest for a while. Yet, she insisted, to the point that she said harsh words against me, like I was a dependent guy and I wouldn't be able to live alone and I wouldn't have a good future."

Claire was listening intently.

"So I despised her and left, to prove myself, even against our mother's will. I managed to get jobs in other towns. One day when I was in my previous job, Madison and mom asked me to come home. I left my job. I still resented my sister. But I decided to come home anyway because my mom asked me to… When I got home, it was only then they disclosed to me that my mom had a terminal illness…"

As Cliff narrated, his exchanges with his sister and mom on the day he learned about their mom's illness replayed to him.

" _Why didn't you tell me sooner? I would have discovered that because of her medication anyways."_

" _We didn't want you to feel pressure because of her condition. We wanted you to feel you had to work so you could attend to your own needs first."_

" _Madison, Cliff please do not fight over this. Cliff, dear, it was I who asked your sister to not tell you about my illness and to urge you to work."_

"They both apologized for keeping the matter of mom's illness to me. Madison said sorry for what she said before. But I was too offended and pre-occupied by disappointment. Worse..you could call that anger. I tried to live like I was okay but I know they knew I wasn't. Soon my mom left us. I decided to travel to live away from my sister and to find a new job."

To Cliff's surprise, Claire held his hand and intertwined her fingers on his.

"You're not mad at me? Or maybe scared of me? I'm a bad person Claire."

"No.. Why should I be mad or scared? You're not bad. You just had bad days. Anyone could have bad days sometimes."

"Claire…"

"But you see..your sister really loves you. She did her best to find you, and when she discovered where you are, she wanted to catch up with you. Give yourself a chance. It's not too late to be in good terms with her again. When you're okay again, I'm sure your mom will be smiling down from heaven," Claire said kindly.

"Thank you Claire. I'll think about how I could talk to her. I'll tell you whatever next development we get."

"Wait..Isn't it too private between you and her?"

"No… you deserve to know. You already know my story after all," he chuckled.

"Well…I'm actually concerned about what's going to happen. If you need help in thinking about how to talk to her, just tell me."

"Sure. Thank you so much Claire."

Cliff first stood and helped Claire get up as their hands were still holding each other.

Claire faced Cliff and held his shoulder with her free hand. "Like you said you would always be there for me, I want you to know that I will always be here too, if you need me. Okay?"

In a surprise move, Cliff lifted his hand holding Claire's and placed a sweet lingering kiss on the blonde girl's fingers. Claire's eyes widened in shock, unnoticed by Cliff whose eyes were closed.

Then, Cliff opened his eyes and brought their gaze on Claire. "Thank you, Claire."

"You're welcome," Claire responded with an awkward smile.

Then Cliff walked Claire home before he went back to the inn.

oOo

At the boys' quarters…

"Kai, you're usually here only during summer. What made you extend your stay?" Gray asked.

"It's a 'who' actually." Kai chuckled. "Popuri asked me to be here for the Music Festival, so I thought I could stay a little longer. And I think it's also a blessing in disguise I got to be like a moral support for Cliff and Claire who haven't really talked about matters of their hearts yet."

"Yeah. I guess you're right about that. They needed moral support while they still have to wait for sometime until Claire can remember again," said Gray.

"They are both doing their best though they are both having difficulty so they really need friends who are there to support them."

"Right. Mary and I also talked about them lately. By the way, until when do you plan to stay?"

"Actually, I'm planning to leave next week. I want to take the Snack Shack to Echo Village."

"Snack Shack on tour!" Gray excitedly exclaimed. This was what Cliff caught when he came.

"Snack Shack on tour? You're leaving, Kai?" asked Cliff.

"Oh hey there Cliff. Well…yes I will travel to Echo Village next week," said Kai.

"He is usually here in Mineral Town during summer. But some pink-haired girl asked him a favor so he extended this year," Gray said, messing up Kai's scarf on the head.

"Cut it out," said Kai.

"You should remove this anyways. Don't tell me you'll sleep like that?" said Gray.

"Of course I won't sleep with this on." Kai removed his scarf. "There. Happy?"

"Delighted," said Gray.

All of them laughed.

"By the way Cliff..you've got a package," said Kai.

"Yeah. It's from my sister," Cliff responded.

"Oh you have a sister? You never told us about her," said Gray.

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I haven't really been in good terms with her so I haven't talked about her."

"Well, families have conflicts sometimes. But surely, everything will be okay between you again soon. As for your package, what would you like to do with it?" said Gray.

"It's here after all… Might as well open it. She told me it's my stuff."

Kai pulled Gray to get out of the room to let Cliff open the box by himself. "Come on. Let's give Cliff some privacy."

Cliff laughed. "It's okay. You can stay."

"If you say so," said Kai.

Kai and Gray just proceeded to their beds.

Cliff used scissors to cut the tape sealing the box. When he opened it, he saw his things, just as Madison told him. There were clothes, footwear, a bunch of his favorite snacks from the city.

Gray, who also came from a city, and Kai, who was a traveler, were familiar with the snacks sent by Cliff's sister. They got excited when they saw them.

Cliff smiled at their excitement. "Guys, help yourselves with some of the food."

"This is great! Thanks dude!" Gray said happily.

Gray and Kai each got a couple of packs.

What struck Cliff the most from the package was a briefcase. He grabbed it and opened it. It contained an envelope. There were also pictures, and writing materials.

Gray and Kai excused themselves to go downstairs for a while.

"We'll just grab something to drink downstairs. These are good with flavored drinks," said Kai.

"Sure. I'll follow you later."

"Okay," said Gray.

Cliff opened the envelope and saw a bundle of money, and a letter. He read the letter.

 _My Dear Brother,_

 _Here are your things just as I told you. Just write to me or call me if you need anything else. I'll visit you there one day._

 _I know you'd think the money's too much but you said you were just starting in your job so I thought you need some extra budget. Just use it or put it in your savings._

 _I felt you were still uneasy talking to me when I heard you on phone. I hope everything can be fixed between us._

 _I'd like you to meet my family soon. Have you also found the person you want to spend the rest of your life with?_

 _Call me or write back to me whenever you're ready. Take care of yourself._

 _Love,_

 _Madison_

Cliff folded the letter and put paperweight on it. He decided to go downstairs and join his friends for drink.

Later, when it was late night and Kai and Gray were already sleeping, Cliff sat in front of his desk and opened his sister's letter again.

' _Have you also found the person you want to spend the rest of your life with?_

 _Call me or write back to me whenever you're ready. Take care of yourself.'_

He smiled looking at it, then, his gaze fell on his writing materials.

He opened his transparent pen case and grabbed a fountain pen. Then, he pulled a sheet of an off-white colored paper. He decided to write.


	21. Chapter 21: Falling Ill

**Chapter 21: Falling Ill**

"Lovely!"

Claire was entertained as she watched rain dripping through her window.

'No need to water plants today,' she thought.

"Beethoven, you're gonna have to stay here 'cause it's pouring outside," she petted her canine friend.

Apparently, Beethoven was still enjoying the bed weather so he was still lying down on the carpet. Claire prepared his food at his side then stood up.

"Hachoo!" She wiped her nose.

'I think I got colds. The weather's getting cool since winter is approaching,' she thought.

'Oh no..' The umbrella she ordered hasn't arrived yet. 'But I need to attend to everyone.' So she went out and headed to the animal shelters, nonetheless.

She first checked on Pachelbel and Tchaikovsky at the coop. All good. Afterwards, she proceeded to the barn.

It was not all good at the barn unfortunately. Mendelsson was lying weak in his corner. Claire worriedly rummaged through her barn chest for the animal thermometer.

She was right. Mendelsoon was sick.

Claire went back to the barn chest but found there was no more livestock medicine. 'Oh this is bad. I have to buy medicine from Barley.' She looked outside. 'The rain isn't so bad. I know! Uhm.. I'll be back for you Mendelsson.' She ran back to her house.

From her closet, Claire grabbed a thick long hoodie coat then put on her boots. 'Perfect.' Then she rushed to Yodel Farm.

As she turned to the town's south path, she met Popuri who shared the shade of her umbrella.

"Claire…what are you doing out here in the rain without an umbrella?"

"Hi Popuri. I ordered one from the tv shopping but it hasn't arrived yet. Right now I'm going to Barley to buy some medicine for my animals. My cow is sick."

"Oh my goodness. But wait, will you walk with me to my house? I'll lend you this umbrella for a while."

"But what are you going to use when you need to go out later?"

"Don't worry Claire. We have two more umbrellas at home."

"Okay. It's so kind of you. Thank you."

Once Popuri got to their house, Claire bade goodbye and proceeded to Barley's.

oOo

"Barley? It's Claire," Claire called as she knocked on Barley's door.

"Claire. Please come in."

Claire opened the door. She removed her boots and put them on a corner with the umbrella.

"Claire you shouldn't have removed your boots."

"It's okay. It's wet and muddy," she giggled.

"How can I help you on a rainy day?"

"Oh yeah. I'd like to buy a bunch of animal medicine please. My cow is sick and I found out I have no more supply of animal medicine. I need to treat Mendelsson and to stock up too."

"Alright." Barley turned to his back to get medicine packs, then later turned back to Claire. "Here you go…One medicine pack for cows and another for sheep. They're good for storage because they have very long shelf life."

"This is great Barley. Where is May by the way?"

"May is still sleeping upstairs. She must be feeling comfortable with the weather."

"Actually, the weather is really inviting for bed," Claire chuckled. "I won't be long Barley. I have to give my cow medicine immediately," she said after paying for the medicine packs.

"No problem Claire. If you have time, will you come back here to update me about your cow's condition?"

"Sure thing. Thanks for these."

"You're welcome."

Claire rushed back to her farm.

oOo

"Here you go Mendelsson," Claire said as she helped her cow take medicine using a funnel and hose, since it couldn't stand up to drink on its own. "You'll feel better soon," Claire said while stroking Mendelsson's head.

Claire left Mendelsson and Schubert and walked back to her house to have lunch. She ate lunch while watching "Life on the Farm." Today's episode was about mining and she got very interested.

'Come to think of it, there's not much to do today.. Might as well try mining!'

And she did as she thought. After doing the dishes, she grabbed her hoe and her basket. She couldn't carry anymore so she decided to leave the umbrella Popuri lent her and just wear her coat and boots.

oOo

Claire went to the Spring Mine to dig for ores.

She mined at the top three levels and had great luck with gold, silver, and bronze ores. She worked until her basket was full.

Claire didn't mind the rain and that she was occasionally sneezing as she walked back home with a basketful of ores.

At 5 p.m., Zack arrived at the farm in his raincoat to pick up shipments. With an umbrella, Claire was standing beside the shipment box at the corner of the field when he came.

Zack opened the shipment box to transfer the produce to his sack and was surprised. "Woah! This is the first time you're shipping ores. And you got a lot of ores, plus the farm produce!"

Claire smiled. "I got interested in mining when I saw it on tv so I tried it. After all, I didn't have much to do since it's raining."

"Hmmm.. But you sound different. You have colds, don't you? I'm going to leave now. You have to hurry inside and not expose yourself here outside when it's cold and raining. Here's your pay."

Claire happily received her earnings. She proceeded back to her house when Zack left.

She noticed that it got darker and the rain poured heavier. But she breathed a sigh of relief thinking that all her animals are safe and well in their shelters.

"Hachoo!" She was, however, the one starting to feel unwell, as she felt pain in many parts of her body: head, back, arms, legs.

She decided to stay at home to rest.

oOo

When Claire woke up the next day, her body was still aching. Nonetheless, she forced herself to get up to do her farm tasks.

Claire first took care of the chickens, then the cows and sheep next.

After feeding the animals in the barn, she went to Dvorak to brush him. She then took her horse outside to let it run around the farm.

It was a struggle for Claire to walk. She squinted most of the time as she moved, not because the sun was too bright, but because she was really not feeling well.

When Claire had let Dvorak out, she walked to small pond to fetch water for the crops. But before she could reach the edge of the pond, her vision spun, everything around her lost color.

Claire lost her balance and fell on the grass. Beethoven rushed to her and tried to move her but she did not respond. He ran to town, barking.

oOo

"Laters dude!" Gray said to Cliff before he turned to the road headed to his grandpa's house. Cliff was headed to Duke and Manna's house to report for work.

When Gray faced south, he saw the barking Beethoven approaching. "Cliff!"

Cliff was about to knock at Duke and Manna's door but he heard Gray and Beethoven so he turned to look.

Gray lowered himself and looked at Beethoven. "What's the matter buddy? Why are you here?"

Cliff came in rushing and bent to stroke the dog. "Why are you alone?"

Beethoven bit Cliff's trousers and pulled him.

"Something must have happened to Claire," said Cliff. "I'll just tell Duke and Manna that I'll be late for work."

"Okay I'll hold on to Beethoven," said Gray.

Cliff removed Beethoven's mouth from his trousers. He went to Duke and Manna's and told them what happened and apologetically said he will be late for work for about an hour because he will check on Claire. The couple kindly allowed him.

"It's alright Cliff. Please make sure Claire is okay."

"I will. Thank you."

oOo

When Cliff, Gray, and Beethoven arrived at the farm, Beethoven ran to Claire who was still lying down on the grass, unconscious.

Cliff and Gray were startled at the scene. Cliff ran ahead of Gray.

Cliff lifted Claire's upper body. "Claire?" He held her arms, then her forehead. "She's burning!"

"You have to get her to her house. I'll just ask someone from the clinic to come," said Gray.

"Alright. Thank you Gray."

Gray left to go to the clinic. Cliff lifted Claire and carried her to her house.

Cliff laid Claire on her bed. He removed her shoes and covered her with a blanket.

Later, Gray came back with Elli.

"Hello there. Oh dear.. Claire is so red," said Elli, worriedly.

She then proceeded to get Claire's temperature. "Thirty nine degrees Celsius. I expected it based on how she looks and feels."

Next, she checked Claire's breathing. "A little bit faster… this means she must be over fatigue."

"That must be the case! I happen to meet Zack on my way to the clinic. When he asked me why I was in a hurry, I told him I had to ask someone from the hospital to attend to Claire because she's sick. Then he told me, Claire must have overworked herself because she shipped a lot of ores yesterday, aside from the farm produce," shared Gray.

"Oh, I see.." Elli was putting a cold towel on Claire's forehead to lower her fever when she remembered something. "Oh! By the way, when I visited Lillia to deliver her medicine, Popuri shared to me that she met Claire running in the rain headed to Barley's. Something about a sick cow if I'm not mistaken," Elli said.

"Claire's been dedicating a lot of her time and energy for the farm," Cliff said sadly. "Elli, is she going to be okay?" he asked.

"Yes she will. Don't worry. But it will take a few days for her to fully recover," Elli responded, smiling.

Cliff somehow felt relieved. "That's good to know. Thank you so much Elli."

"My problem is..I couldn't stay the night for Claire. I have to be with Stu and Grandma," said Elli.

"I can ask Mary to come here and stay the night to look after Claire. I'm sure she and her family wouldn't mind that," Gray offered.

"No!..Uhm.. I mean..it's okay… Don't ask Mary..I..I'll be the one to stay here and take care of Claire," Cliff said, blushing.

Gray and Elli smiled at each other.

"That's great to know, Cliff. I am certain that Claire will be happy to find out that you would take care of her," said Elli.

Cliff's blushed even more.

"Don't worry about work Cliff. I'll drop by Duke and Manna's to inform them," said Gray.

"For now you can let Claire take this Turbojolt and Bodigizer. She has to drink each when she wakes up later, after dinner. I'll come back later with Doctor's full prescription."

"O-okay.. Uhm.. Is..is there any other thing I should do or prepare?" Cliff said.

Elli giggled. "Just dip the towel on Claire's forehead in the cold water that I prepared beside her so her temperature would be lowered. Apart from that, nothing more. Everything's alright here for her. Just don't leave her, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you so much you guys."

"You're welcome," Gray and Elli both said. They later bade goodbye to Cliff and left.

oOo

Cliff locked the door after Gray and Elli left. But before he could step farther from the door, someone knocked.

"Cliff? It's Popuri."

"Oh Popuri." He opened the door. "Come in."

"Zack told me what happened to Claire. How is she now?"

"Not really good. She's still burning," Cliff sadly replied.

"Oh Claire. I saw her running in the rain yesterday. She already had colds. Her exposure to the rain must have made her feel worse."

"Yeah. Elli shared to us that Claire went to buy medicine for her cow."

"She always thinks about others before herself." Popuri placed something she was carrying on Claire's dining table. "Here. Please ask her to eat this. It's vegetable soup. It will help make her feel better."

"Thank you Popuri."

Popuri walked to Claire's bedside, knelt, and held her blonde hair's hand. "You're gonna be okay Claire. Just rest," she said softly.

Popuri then stood and faced Cliff. "Cliff, thank you for staying for Claire. I know she will be happy when she wakes up and sees you," she said, chuckling.

Cliff just blushed like earlier.

"Okay. I'll be going now. It's going to be late. I'm still needed at home."

"Thank you Popuri."

So Popuri left and Cliff once again locked the door.

When he turned to face Claire, he got worried as he saw her looking uneasy. She was still asleep but she looked like she was in pain, and she was groaning, although very discreetly.

Cliff rushed to Claire's side. He knelt on her bedside and held her hand. "Claire…" he whispered.

Claire's eyes were still closed. But she spoke sadly, "No. Please don't leave me alone." Then she woke up and quickly sat up, making the towel on her head fall to her lap. "Pleease.."

Cliff sat beside her when she got up. He told her kindly, "Hey..it's okay.. you're not alone." He was still holding her hand.

Claire looked at the hands holding her and raised her gaze to the brown eyes kindly looking at her. She was still sad but overwhelmed by the presence of the boy beside her that she wrapped her arms around him. She continued to cry.

Cliff's arms were on mid air for a while because of shock. But he later gave the crying blonde his warm embrace. "You're not alone. I'm here. I'm here for you," he whispered into her ear.


End file.
